


Eclipsed

by caelumfleuret



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-09-27 11:09:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 33,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10017164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caelumfleuret/pseuds/caelumfleuret
Summary: High school sucked enough without the added pressure of the Niflheim Empire breathing down his neck. What's a prince to do when his fate is possibly a lot closer than he thought and he's not nearly as prepared as he's supposed to be?AU Noct/Luna. Rated M for later chapters.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. *waves*
> 
> I originally put this on ff.net as I waited for my invitation to join this place. I finally got it. Yay! I'll be uploading all the chapters I already have out, and then I'll hopefully have something new, sometime soon.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy it, and please leave any and all critiques in a review. I want to get better, and I'd appreciate it. :)
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy XV, 'cause if I did, Noctluna would've lived and been married with kids.

There had always been something rather calming about the drive to school. Maybe it was the fact that he was still half asleep and the drive was a good thirty minutes away from his apartment. Maybe it was the fact that it was becoming more of a rarity for Ignis to pick him up and take him to school since he now normally walked. Either way, Noctis was thankful for it this morning. It was almost as if Ignis had known that last night had been rather rough.

He had had his normal weekly training with Gladiolus, although this time it wasn't so normal. Everything had started out okay, but this time, in order for him to start doing more than just fighting with Gladio, he had surprised him with three other combatants, all of them members of the Kingsglaive. One minute he was dueling his own guard, and winning, and the next three other members of the guard attacked him from behind. He had been so focused on his fight with Gladio that he had failed to hear the other three come in, and then nearly got knocked out as he attempted to fend all four of them off. It took a good twenty minutes, but Noct figured that he had taken care of himself enough because they finally called it quits. That night he was already in so much pain that Ignis suggested he take a bath, and he actually took the advice.

Squirming just the tiniest bit in the leather seat, Noctis frowned in agony but didn't dare open his eyes. He still had a good ten minutes left before they'd get to the school.

"Did you take the pain medication like I told you?"

Noctis' frown turned even more sour. "I forgot."

"I'll be sure to bring some when I come to pick you up then," Ignis decided.

Not willing to say much more, Noctis kept quiet, and gave a small nod in reply. By the time they made it to the school, Noctis was nearly asleep again, but he exited the car and waved goodbye to Ignis in reluctance.

It wasn't long before Prompto accosted him, the blond's hand connecting with his back in a friendly pat. It hurt like hell, and Prompto seemed to notice. "You have a bad training day?"

"Something like that."

"You okay?"

Looking at his friend, Noctis sighed quietly and returned his pat to the back in kind. "Yeah, I'm just gonna be sore for a few days."

The two of them walked up the courtyard and entered the school through the front doors. Everything seemed like it was gonna be another boring day; they walked to their class, they sat down in their usual seats, Prompto right in front of Noctis with the both of them up against the windows, and the teacher walked in, only this time he wasn't alone. There was a girl with him.

Noctis' eyebrows knit together in confusion as he sat back in his chair and studied the new girl. His hands began to fidget with the pencil that sat on his desk, and he saw in his peripheral vision as Prompto's head tilted to the side ever so slightly like a curious dog.

"Good morning, class. We're gonna start our lessons today after an introduction..." Mr. Cassius waved a hand towards the girl as if motioning for her to talk, and Noctis looked her up and down. She looked... familiar.

Her hair was short in a pixie cut style that was a little bit longer than the average pixie, kind of like what was starting to become popular with women these days—not that he noticed or anything. It was dark brown in color and her eyes, although downcast, were a greenish blue. Her school uniform almost seemed like it was too big for her too, like she had gotten it last second. He had never seen her before and yet...

Her face raised and she gazed at nothing while giving a nervous smile. "Hello. My name is Diana Vitus. I'm so very excited to learn with you all." Eyes downcast again, she moved to sit down in the empty seat on the other side of the room that Mr. Cassius pointed to, not saying or looking at anything.

Mr. Cassius started the class without a hitch after she sat down, but today Noctis couldn't focus. He couldn't directly look at her—wouldn't directly look at her, but he couldn't stop glancing in her direction. By the time the class was coming to the end for the lunch break a full two hours later, he was fully unaware of what was going on around him outside of her.

There was something about her.

As soon as school had ended and Prompto and him were making their way out of the building, Prompto didn't seem to want to shut up; having talked the entire way down. Noctis distractedly ignored it. "That new girl is kind of cute! Her name was Diana, right?"

"Yeah," Noctis murmured absentmindedly.

"She has a bit of an accent... It's kind of hot."

"Yeah."

"Noctis."

"Yeah."

Pouting, Prompto did a one-eighty and put a hand on Noctis' chest to stop him. They were on the sidewalk and were walking towards the street where Ignis stood waiting for Noct in front of the car.

He saw Ignis look at them in curiosity, but quickly glanced in a different direction as he swatted away at Prompto's hand. "What is it?"

"You're not paying attention. In fact, you haven't been all day. What's the deal?"

"Nothing," he attempted. "Let's go to my place and play some games or something."

"Noct."

Rolling his eyes, Noct began striding towards the car, leaving Prompto to catch up. "There's nothing wrong, let's just-" He caught her in the corner of his sight and his head barely turned in an attempt to look at her without anyone noticing.

She was walking towards a black car, her hands in front of her as she held onto her school bag. She seemed to sense that he was watching her, and he could tell that she looked at him without thinking, because as soon as their eyes met she blushed and darted her eyes away before jogging the last few feet to the car. A few seconds passed and she was gone.

Prompto frowned and put his right hand on his hip. "Eos to Noctis."

"Is he all right?" Ignis questioned as he stepped forward.

Mouth open and eyes wide, he slowly turned towards his friend and retainer who were both near him now, both seeming worried. He tried to shake it off, tried to get the image of her out of his mind, but as he distractingly got into the car with Prompto also in tow, he couldn't keep a single thought out of his mind the entire drive to his apartment.

It can't be. It can't be.

The next day wasn't any better.

She sat on the other side of the room and didn't speak to anyone, with him continuing to ignore Prompto as he spent the majority of the day watching her. He knew that Prompto was getting mad at him, and he'd apologize for it later, but he couldn't ignore this. Not when it was nagging him so much.

By the time school was over, Noctis calmly exited class and hesitated in the hallway. His eyes darted from person to person, trying to find her, and he heard Prompto sigh loudly beside him as he continued to not pay attention to him.

"I'm really not appreciating the silence, dude."

"Sorry," the Prince muttered—the sight of her a few feet away from him catching his attention. His feet began to stalk her. "I have a lot on my mind."

He cautiously chased her down the hallway and out to the courtyard. Hearing feet hitting pavement behind him, Noctis didn't take his eyes off of her but knew who it was as he caught her getting into the car from yesterday again and driving off.

"Care to share?" Prompto challenged when they both came to a stop at the entrance to the school grounds.

"Not until I have this all figured out."

He could practically hear Prompto rolling his eyes. "Whatever dude. Wanna go get something to eat?"

For the first time in almost two days, Noctis turned his attention to Prompto. "Hamburgers?"

"Sounds good."

* * *

 

Something woke him up earlier than normal that morning and he was unable to go back to sleep. It was the end of the weekend and he didn't have any plans. He was still in his sweats and the t-shirt he had slept in. He could already tell that he was gonna have a bad day considering he woke up thinking about Diana, and not even breakfast sounded good. Why was this becoming so annoying?

Sighing loudly from the comfort of his couch in his living room, he rested his head back against the cushion and raised his feet to rest them on the coffee table. "This is getting out of hand."

Dragging his right hand down his face in exhaustion while contemplating if he should even talk to her, Noct soon heard a soft scratching sound coming from his front door. Confusion set in before he recognized it was the sound of claws raking against the bottom of the wood.

It had to be Umbra. That means Luna wrote back.

He jumped up off the couch and winced at the ache in his muscles before jogging to his front door. As soon as it opened Umbra trotted inside and sat down near the extra slippers by the door, his tail wagging and his tongue out in happiness.

Smiling gently, Noctis knelt down and scratched him behind the ear. "Hi boy. Got something for me?" He reached around behind the dog's head and grabbed at the red notebook that sat inside the dog's cloth backpack. Flipping through the numerous pages that they had filled up over the years, he found the last entry and his grin grew.

A sticker resembling the flower garden that they used to love to visit as children was glued to the page, with her neat and beautiful handwriting underneath.

'Dear Noctis, the sylleblossom's are blooming and they remind me of you. The picture you sent with your last entry is in my possession, and I must say you look so much older than the last time you sent a picture, and I see you've made a friend. That makes me so happy.'

He reread it three more times before standing and making his way into his bedroom so he could grab a pen. Umbra followed him without a sound, and sat down again in front of him as Noctis sat on his bed.

The picture that he had sent with his last entry was one of him and Prompto during the start of this semester. It was only a few months ago, and truthfully Noctis hadn't know what to tell her at the time—occasionally feeling that small talk was worse then no talking at all. Sometimes he waited a few weeks before replying, but he couldn't hold it back this time as the pen met paper and the words just wrote themselves.

'I wish I could see them. I wish I could see you. Prompto's someone I've known since elementary school but only somewhat recently got to know. I'm sure he'd love to meet you.'

Umbra barked quietly, knowing he was done writing, and Noctis scratched the top of his head in reply with a chuckle leaving his lips. "Don't worry, I'm done," he whispered as he put the notebook back into the makeshift backpack.

Standing, he walked Umbra to the front door and opened it, watching as the dog trotted down the hallway of the apartment complex before stopping at the apartment at the end. He saw him sniff at the door before scratching at it the same way he did to his own door, and before too long the door opened.

A gasp escaped his lips, and Noctis knew his bafflement over the past few days was now completely called for.

There at the front door and letting Umbra into the apartment was Diana, and she wasn't in school clothes. She wore a lavender dress, and around her neck was a necklace with a crescent moon charm. One he knew he had seen before.

The door closed, and he practically slammed his own front door shut before running down the hallway towards it. He didn't spare any time and started knocking on it. Shuffling could be heard on the other side, and Noct swore he could hear a soft gasp through the wood as well.

"W-Who is it?" It was Diana. He knew it.

The determination on his face was clear as day through the peep hole, he was sure. "Diana... how do you know Umbra?"

"Umbra...? Who's-"

"Stop acting. I saw Umbra go in there. A black Shiba? Umbra's in there." As if to answer him himself, Noctis heard Umbra bark on the other side. "Who are you?" He demanded. Hearing what sounded like the lock being undone, he waited impatiently, and when it finally opened, he gasped loudly and took a step back, having never seen her this close before.

Her hair was the same, and she wasn't in school clothes, but her eyes were different colors then they had been when he'd first saw her. It was almost as if she had been wearing colored contacts, because before they were nearly green, and now they were blue.

Something inside of him clicked and Noct stepped back again and pointed at her. "You're-"

Before anything else could come out, Diana was pulling him inside of her apartment and shutting the door. She locked it quickly and Noctis noticed there was five different locks on it aside from the main one. What the hell was going on?

Eyebrows knitted together and his arms crossed, Noct pressed his his lips together and waited for "Diana" to turn around. She was taking her sweet time, and his patience was wearing thin. "Diana…" He saw her shoulders flinch.

"Noctis…"

"What the hell are you doing in Insomnia, Luna?"

At the sound of her real name, "Diana" turned around and leaned against the door. Her head leaned back and she closed her eyes tightly. The feeling of the door behind her seemed to steady her, but no amount of confidence was gonna get her out of this. "Noctis… It's not what you think."

"So you haven't been lying to me for years and this is just the first time I've seen Umbra come into this apartment?"

"Yes," Luna whispered as she shook her head. She hesitantly looked into his eyes and took in a deep breath. "I haven't been lying to you. It's such a long story…"

"I've got time."

He knew he was coming off way more confrontational than he should be. Here Luna was, right in front of him for the first time in twelve years and yet he wasn't reacting the way he thought he would.

He had anticipated shyness and blushing, with both of them happy beyond belief. He had expected to be in Tenebrae, or for her to visit him in Insomnia. Not… whatever this was. What even was this?

Luna took in a shaky breath, and most of the frustration left Noctis when he noticed how scared she seemed.

Unfolding his arms, Noctis pleaded with her. "Luna. What are you doing here?"

She seemed to ease at the change in his tone, and began walking towards the living room of her apartment. He followed her without question, and once they were both sitting down at her dining table, she finally spoke-her hands clasped together tightly in what could easily be perceived as stress.

Luna met his questioning gaze. "I'm here, in Insomnia, as a protection of sorts."

"A protection?"

Luna nodded, and attempted to swallow the lump in the back of her throat. "About a month ago, the emperor of Niflheim was overheard talking to his guards about turning me into a… into a… Oracle breeder." Noct's eyes widened and his body sagged a little bit. "Ravus overheard the guards discussing it between them and immediately began talking to Gentiana. He knew if he tried to change the emperor's mind it was only gonna make matters worse. He's been so unstable lately… So Ravus had Gentiana send a message to King Regis-"

"Wait a minute-my Dad knows you're here?"

The agitation in his tone was easily read and Luna flinched again. Noctis had to force himself to calm down.

"Gentiana came back with word from the King and once Ravus knew he wouldn't be able to get me out of Tenebrae until two weeks later, Gentiana went behind him and uhm, she uh… gave me birth control just in case."

At the mention of birth control, he could feel the blood rising in his cheeks from both anger and a blush.

"As soon as my estate here was ready and King Regis and Sir Cor had it all planned out, they smuggled me out of Tenebrae and brought me here. I've been in this apartment for two weeks now as they attempted to secure my existence, as well as change my appearance."

Now that he really looked at her, he noticed there was more of a change to her appearance than just her eyes and hair. She was a bit tanner than she had been in the picture she had sent him months ago, and there seemed to be new freckles across her face. He wished he could look into her eyes again, to try and see the real her, but she refused and kept staring at her hands.

"There's a lady that lives here with me. She's a retired Kingsglaive who also happens to do make up and hair. She puts these freckles on me, she's the one who cut my hair… she's also kind of like my bodyguard and acting 'mother' in case anyone comes by." Luna smiled sadly at that. "She's actually on an errand right now. She only left because there are more guards downstairs, although they don't look like guards. It's the only reason why I was able to send Umbra with the notebook, although we had attempted to train him to not bring it straight back here."

Umbra seemed to hear the reprimand in her voice and whined at her side. Noctis noticed the dog near her for the first time since they sat down, and frowned. "Where's Pryna?"

That question made her lip tremble. Umbra felt the tension in the air and rested his head in her lap. Luna unclenched her hands so she could pet the top of his head in reply as well as for comfort. "She's still with Ravus. We weren't able to get her out. Umbra was only able to escape with us because he was on his way to you a few weeks ago and caught us on the drive into Insomnia."

"Luna," he whispered. A few seconds after he spoke her name, she finally looked up at him, and he could see the fear and despair in her eyes. "Why'd they move you next door to me?"

Another remorseful smile graced her face, and he could tell she was happy with the slight change in subject. "You already have guards near you at all times, whether you know it or not. Plus the special key card feature that's needed to enter this floor from the elevator and stairwells made it more convenient. Apparently the walls and doors on this floor are also bullet proof and bug proof. No one could hear us talking right now even if they tried."

"Wait," Noctis leaned forward in his seat and narrowed his eyes. "My apartment is bullet proof? How in the hell did they do that when I just moved in here a couple of months ago?"

Luna shrugged her shoulders, her hand still idly petting Umbra behind the ear. "I'm not sure. They wanted to keep it a secret from you to protect you, as well as me, I guess. I have to stay hidden now until who knows when. They could send assassins after me for leaving. Attack me at school, kidnap me… your father and Sir Cor have done everything they can to make sure my identity is safe. I'm surprised you even recognized me. The King didn't."

Blushing, Noctis averted his eyes and scratched the back of his head. "I had a feeling something was weird when I first saw you. I don't know why, but I just somehow knew…"

Noctis felt the hand he had been resting on the table being touched, and he saw she had taken his hand in her free one. The blush on his cheeks grew, but he didn't move his hand away. A feeling of calm washed over them, and any anger he may have felt earlier was gone. He'd still have to talk to his dad about the unmentioned additions to his apartment, and the hidden guards that followed him, but right here, right now, Luna was in front of him. She was touching him. His heart beat quicker in his chest and he wasn't sure if he could handle this.

Clearing his throat, but not moving his hand from hers, Noctis glanced up at her from under his lashes and hoped she wouldn't see the blush on his cheeks. "So.. even though you're too old to be in high school… you're in school with me because of my hidden guards?"

"Yes," Luna answered with a slight giggle. The seriousness of the conversation started to waiver, and Noct was grateful. "They felt it'd be easier to watch me and easier to hide me in plain sight than if I were to simply hide."

"Didn't you already go to school though?"

"After Niflheim attacked you all those years ago… I wasn't really allowed to do normal schooling. I know what I need to to be a princess and the Oracle, but I don't really know math or history. I don't even know how to drive a car."

Noctis gave a curt nod in reply.

He had started to focus on their entwined hands. She was holding his like it was delicate, with her thumb ghosting over his knuckles. It brought a sense of peace, and a warmth of comfort that crept up his arm. He gave a slight squeeze to her hand and when she squeezed back he smiled.

"I've missed you," he breathed. Looking into her eyes, her smile made him mirror it.

"I've missed you too, Noctis."

"What happens now?"

Luna bit her lip, and felt Umbra nuzzle her thigh. "I go to school, come home, don't make too many friends, but they do believe I should have one or two so I don't look suspicious."

"So Prompto and I could be your friends."

"Actually," she uttered faintly. "You're not supposed to even know I'm here."

Everything seemed to stop in that moment; her thumb caressing his knuckles, Umbra's little huffs, Noctis' smile. He narrowed his eyes again and he saw that she was waiting for the ball to drop. Taking in a deep breath to stop the anger from bubbling up, he squeezed her hand again and focused on her touch. "What do you mean I'm not supposed to know? They were never going to tell me?" She shook her head. He grimaced like he tasted something awful, like a carrot, and averted his eyes. "And what if something had happened to you? What if I never got another note from you? What then?"

"...I don't know. I don't think they've thought that far."

"When does this guard of yours come back?"

"She had to go get something from the Citadel. She didn't exactly say."

"We should go to the Citadel and confront my father in all this."

A frown marred Luna's features. "Noctis, that would bring too much attention to me. That's why I'm not staying at the Citadel. It'd be too obvious."

"And yet they have you being my neighbor?"

"Not many people know you live here. From what I'm told, people don't pay that much attention to you in the city."

"Yeah, but if the empire wants you they would probably look into where I live too."

A silence spread over them and it brought back the awkwardness that had left. Noctis didn't know what to think, he didn't really know what he should do either. He kind of just wanted to go to his apartment and sleep.

Giving her hand one last squeeze, Noctis let go and stood. The sound of the chair scraping across the floor seemed to echo, and he knew that her face was probably shrouded in sadness.

"Luna, I…" he breathed in deeply and sighed in frustration. "I'm not mad at you."

"I know." Her voice sounded so quiet, so fragile.

"I don't know what to do here. If I can't be your friend out in the open, if I can't be near you… Hell, this somehow feels worse than you being back in Tenebrae because you're here, and I see you and can touch you but I can't-and yet if you were back in Tenebrae you'd be-" Noctis ran a hand through his hair and pulled on the strands out of annoyance. Taking a few steps and practically walking in a circle, he nearly slammed his hands onto the table in a huff.

"There's nothing you can do, Noctis. I'm here in Insomnia and I'm safe-"

"-But for now, right? They could come at any time if they figure you out!" Silence, again.

Thoughts raced through his head and Noctis could feel a headache forming. He felt like he was stuck and he had barely moved. This was too much information at once without any room for improvement. His dad just expected her to be near him without him even knowing? Without him being able to be with her?

Groaning, Noct began to walk towards the door and heard Umbra's feet tapping behind him as he followed him. His hand grabbed onto the first lock but he didn't move any further. He went through his thoughts and choose his words carefully. "I'm gonna go talk to my dad," he declared loud enough for her to hear. "If you're gonna be in Insomnia, I want to be able to be with you, and I can keep you safe too. He needs to know that." With that said he undid all the locks and left, not even bothering to shut the door behind him.

Umbra stood at the opened door and let out a bark before turning to look back at Luna. She grabbed onto the bottom of her dress as it lay near her knees, squeezing it with all her might, and then setting it free. Standing, she made it to the door and shut it, fastened all the locks and then laid her forehead against it.

Luna couldn't help but think that this meeting was not the way she had planned their reunion, and she had tried to plan it.

"I want to be able to be with you." He had said. Biting her lip, she let that phrase run through her mind over and over again.

Maybe the reunion was bad, but things could hopefully get better.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It may seem slow at first, but I'm trying to build the world, and to make it as realistic as possible. Also I read the prologue script that they had written concerning what Noct was doing before he left the Citadel and noticed that there's both Crownsguard and Kingsglaive. That they're two different entities. I may used Kingsglaive as the generic term in this chapter and the next, which I just need to read over since I just finished it, but after that I'm probably gonna start differentiating between the two of them.

Noctis had nearly taken the elevator before realizing he was still in his pajamas. He rushed to his apartment, pulled on his Prince fatigues and nearly ran to the elevator. His anger was building the closer to the ground he got. He couldn't keep all the information she had told him out of his mind. His father knew, they wanted to keep it from him, they expected him to ignore Luna even though she was right here in front of him just waiting to be with him-the elevator dinged signaling the ground floor. Once the doors opened, his own eyes widened.

He had told her that he wanted to be with her in front of her. It slipped out without him even thinking, but… Noctis shook his head and exited the elevator. He couldn't think about this right now.

Finding the concierge, he asked her to gather a car for him, and as the lady called it in, Noct wondered if she was one of his hidden guards. She told him it was coming right around as she hung up and he thanked her wordlessly and exited the apartment complex. Just like she had said, the car came right around and he entered it without even acknowledging the driver who had gotten out to open the door. The driver seemed to understand that he was in a hurry, and after Noctis asked him to take them to the Citadel, they were off.

Traffic was on his side and they got there rather easily. The guard saw his face and let them in, and Noctis hopped out of the car as soon as he was able. He took the stairs two at a time up to the door, and took all the necessary hallways and elevators until he was in the throne room. No one was in there and it made him even more furious.

"Prince Noctis!"

He turned around and saw a surprised maid. She had a broom in her right hand and her left was over her mouth. Scratching the back of his head, he asked, "Do you know where my Dad is?"

"Oh, I believe he's in his chambers," she guessed.

"Thanks." He strode off and caught her bow of respect in the corner of his eye. Damn, he hated all the formalities here.

The walk to his father's chambers was a long one. It was on the other side of the Citadel in the East building. The series of elevators and hallways that led to his personal apartment would've confused anyone, but Noctis grew up here. He knew it like the back of his hand. Hell, he hadn't even been moved out that long. He had only moved to his current apartment about eight months ago.

The sudden sound of his father's voice brought his attention back into what was currently happening and Noctis searched for him. It didn't take long; he found him in the hallway outside of his personal study. He jogged the rest of the way up to him. "Dad!"

King Regis turned around with a shocked expression on his face and soon waved away his personal butler. "Noctis. What're you doing home?"

Noctis frowned at the word 'home'. It hadn't felt like home in years. Deciding to ignore the question, Noctis crossed his arms. "We need to talk."

"What about?" The King inquired as his eyebrows raised.

"It's about Luna."

At the sound of her name, King Regis averted his eyes and frowned. "Let's go into my office," he muttered before turning around and opening the door.

Noctis followed him inside without a word, and once they were inside and with the door shut, Noctis spoke. "When were you gonna tell me about Luna?"

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to," his father stated as he hobbled across the room to shakily sit down in his office chair; his cane having made a slight noise the entire way.

Noctis felt the anger inside of him bubbling up. He refused to sit down across from his father due to the increasing emotion inside of him, and instead stared out at the wall length window behind him as he started to pace. "So you were never going to tell me?"

"Noctis, don't," his father warned sternly as he squared his gaze with him. "Now you know that is not what I said. I said I hoped I wouldn't have to because I hoped that the Empire would give up this stupid dream of their's and we could then release her back to freedom." The King then sighed and sagged a little. Noct could tell he was exhausted and the anger deflated out of him. "I'm guessing that since you're here and asking questions, Lunafreya somehow told you?"

"She's my next door neighbor and is in my class. How was I not gonna notice?"

"I didn't recognize her with all the changes they did to her appearance. I thought you might not either."

Noct rolled his eyes and finally conceded defeat and sat down in the chair across from his father, his huge wooden desk being the only thing between them now. "It's Luna. Of course I'd recognize her."

King Regis seemed to figure out the message behind his words and gave a lopsided smile. It didn't take long for that smile to fade. "I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want to put Lunafreya into danger. Cor thought that was wise as well."

Cor's name reminded him of something else Luna had told him, and he sat forward in his seat with his elbows resting on his knees. "How long has my apartment been a safe house? The bulletproof walls and everything?"

"Remember when I asked you to wait a week before moving?" Noctis nodded. "I knew there was no way to talk you out of it so I had them install it as well as the keycard feature on the elevator. After Tenebrae… if you didn't want to live in the Citadel, I knew I had to somehow make you safe."

"Which is why I also have hidden guards."

It was King Regis' turn to nod. "There's only five of them. I won't divulge their identities, especially now that they're watching Lunafreya as well, but just know they're only there to keep you safe and nothing else."

Any of the frustration or annoyance that was left over after the King's explanations seemed to dissipate after Noctis took a good look at his father.

More wrinkles had set in and his hair was greying fast. The cane he had recently gotten was being used, and Noct noticed the dependence he had on it. Seeing him now, it reminded him of the argument he had with Ignis a few weeks ago concerning the probability of his father dying soon. At that thought, Noctis swallowed thickly and stared at the floor.

King Regis watched him and knew that he was lost in thought, and he instantly regretted all the secrecy he was still holding back and would have to continue hiding. He didn't like lying to his son. He wanted to be a father, not a King. Not when his son was destined to… Clearing his throat, Regis spoke after he had Noctis' attention. "I want to protect you both. There's a lot that is going on right now that I can't tell you about, but just know everything I do is to keep the both of you safe."

Noctis gave a curt nod, feeling the slight awkwardness in the room and hating it immensely. "If Luna's here…" Noct attempted. "Then I wanna be able to be with her-to be her friend. I can't just let her be near me and ignore her."

"I know," his father answered. "I don't expect you to, nor do I want you to ignore her. I know you two have a deep bond, one that I'm thankful for. I just ask that you don't do anything to bring attention to her. Don't go anywhere alone with her, don't get too friendly with her at school, and definitely do not call her by her true name or mention anything about the past."

Noct gave another nod and stood, wanting to now put this conversation to an end. "I understand, but Dad?" His father raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. "I can protect her if need be. Gladio's been training me, and I won't start slacking off in training anymore. I want to keep her safe after everything she told me, just like you do. I'm not just gonna stand idly by if anything happens."

Giving out a short defeated chuckle, his father stood as well, and Noct fully saw just how dependent he was on the cane. It made him sad. "I wouldn't expect anything else."

With that, Noctis gave his father a parting, low-spirited smile and left the room. He failed to see all the stress his father was under take over his features, and instead started to exit the Citadel.

It took him twenty minutes to get home, but when he got to his floor, Noctis knocked on Luna's door and waited for a reply. It came swiftly in the form of who he guessed was Luna's personal body guard/pretend Mother, because it was an older woman who opened the door. Her face had started out in a glare before she realized it was him but it soon turned tired. "Prince Noctis. What're you doing here?"

"I wanna speak with Luna."

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen. You're not even supposed to know she's here."

"I just talked to my dad and he said it was okay for her and I to interact. Can I please talk to her?"

The older woman looked skeptical but allowed him to step inside. "I'll let you speak to her as I call it in."

Noctis muttered a thanks, and started to search for Luna as the retired Kingsglaive started her call. He found her sitting on the couch watching something on TV with Umbra laying on the cushions as well with his head in her lap. She seemed surprised when she saw him and a blush illuminated her cheeks.

"Noctis, what're you….?"

"I spoke to my father."

Luna bit her lip and moved her focus to Umbra. "Oh?"

The fact that she seemed so nervous startled him, and he remembered how annoyed he had been when he left. What he had said when he left. Wincing, Noct walked towards her and sat on the end of the couch where Umbra wasn't taking up space. "He said we could interact, that we could even be friends in school. We can't be too obvious that we know each other and I can't call you Luna, but at least you won't be alone now."

She smiled prettily despite the fear that still flickered in her eyes. "That's great news."

"Starting tomorrow I guess Prompto and I will 'introduce' ourselves, although for Prompto it really will be an introduction."

"I'm so glad you have friends here, Noctis. I know you were lonely for a long time."

Noctis felt heat rising in his cheeks and leaned back into the cushions. He saw the older woman come into the living room and watch them for a few seconds before turning into a bedroom. She must've gotten the okay. "Yeah, well… now I can add you to the list of school friends."

Luna smiled. "I can't wait."

* * *

 

The next morning was rather strange.

When his alarm went off, he actually woke up and didn't hit the snooze button. He brushed his teeth, got ready for school, and even ate something a good twenty minutes before he normally would. By the time he was leaving his apartment and walking towards Luna's, the older woman who he had found out to be named Irene, was opening the door with Luna stepping out.

Just like he had seen her at the end of the school week last week, her shorter hair was styled around her face and she had the colored contacts in. Her freckles seemed to have moved, and he was gonna have to ask her about that later, but this time her uniform appeared to actually fit her.

"I thought we could ride the elevator together even though we can't ride in the same car," Noctis offered as he slung his book bag over his shoulder.

She seemed to like that because she smiled softly and walked with him. "I'd love that."

The trip down the elevator was nice. They chatted, and Noctis found out that every single morning she had to have an hour of make up done just to look that natural with fake freckles after he asked her about them, and he balked at her answer. He also found out that she was having to do weekly spray tans to keep up the appearance of sun-kissed skin, as well as weekly hair dying so she'd never show her blonde roots. The more he saw her with the brown hair and green eyes, the more he missed her true looks. She was beautiful either way but she still wasn't his Luna.

Blushing at the thought of calling her 'his', Noctis allowed her to exit the elevator before him and tried to look casual. He wasn't sure if everyone in the lobby was a guard or not, so he had to make it seem like they weren't too close. Even then, what about the elevator camera? He'd have to ask Irene later on.

Noctis caught her attention as she walked out of the building and waved goodbye. He started to walk towards his school when he noticed Ignis waiting for him down the street. "I didn't know you were picking me up today," he exclaimed once he was close enough.

Ignis opened the passenger car door for him and let him in before closing it and going around to the driver's seat. Once he was settled, Ignis started the car. "I was told to keep a close eye on you, which means I shall be driving you from now on."

"Why?" Noctis asked as he got comfortable in his seat.

"If you are to get close to Lady Lunafreya, you must have an escort any time you're walking to and from your house."

"What?" Noctis nearly shouted as he turned to watch Ignis who merely pushed up his glasses as he drove. "What the hell do you mean I need an escort? Also how in the hell do you know about Luna?"

"I knew about the Lady before you did, and you needing an escort are my orders."

"Doesn't it look more suspicious that I suddenly get driven to school everyday after she gets here though? That's so stupid."

"I don't know. Just following orders."

"Yeah, yeah," sighed Noctis as he sat back in his seat and crossed his arms. Just when he thought this entire situation was looking up, he ended up getting pushed back. He didn't ignore the revelation that Ignis knew about Luna before he did either. He had suspected as much but had hoped the suspicions were wrong the night before when he was running over all the information he had been told between Luna and his father. The fact that his own retainer and probably Gladio and others knew about it made his blood boil. Everyone but him.

He really needed to calm down. There was nothing he could do to change any of this now. While he could, he needed to enjoy Luna's company and train as hard as he could so he could protect her when the time came. He didn't want other people to protect her. He wanted to protect her.

"We're here."

Blinking, Noctis came back to the current moment and turned to Ignis. He noticed that they were parked outside the school, and he had somehow been thinking to himself for the past twenty odd minutes. Grabbing his back pack, Noctis opened the door, only for Ignis to reach over him and shut it from the driver's seat. "Ignis, what're you-"

"Don't be careless."

Noct studied Ignis' face for a few seconds, trying to determine his meaning, or at least, trying to play dumb. Ignis looked more serious than he had ever seen him. Had this been a few weeks ago during their little spat over his father and his future of being King, he probably would've ignored him, but they were just starting to be something along the line as good friends after several years, and he knew Ignis knew him better than that. He could read the fake look of confusion on Noct's face easily.

Knowing he wasn't getting away with anything, Noct didn't do or say anything as he opened the car door and left. He'd probably hear about it from him later, but right now he didn't care.

Not too long after he had gotten out of the car he saw Prompto leaning against the entrance to the school grounds. He acknowledged him as he walked up in a friendly but monotone manner and Prompto seemed happy at the broken silence.

"So I'm guessing you figured out whatever you needed to if you're talking again?" Prompto joked as he moved off of the wall and walked with Noctis across the courtyard.

"Yeah, you could say that."

"You ever gonna tell me whats going on?"

That was something Noctis hadn't decided on yet. "If I can, then yeah."

"So," his blond companion started as he opened the school door for them. "It's something serious then."

"Definitely."

"Well, I guess I can wait until you're ready. You know I was thinking about talking to that new girl, Diana."

Noctis stopped in the middle of the hallway, ignoring all the mean looks he was getting for doing so from other students. He gave Prompto a curious look and his friend seemed to notice something was up, because he stopped and stared right back.

"What?" Prompto asked.

Noct chose his words carefully as he slowly started walking again, this time moving towards the stairs so they could get to class. "Talk to her how?"

"Like saying hi?" Prompto guessed as he lagged a bit behind the Prince. "Why? Do you want to talk to her? 'Cause lets face it, I can't beat a Prince. Every girl wants one of those."

Noctis continued on up the stairs and turned the corner once they reached their floor. "I just mean, are you gonna try and ask her out? You don't even know her yet." His deflecting was bad. He could see the wheels turning in Prompto's head and it made him nervous.

"I don't know…" Prompto trailed off as they walked into class. "I hadn't decided yet."

The suspicion in his voice put Noctis on edge. There was no way he was gonna hide this for long, not that he even wanted to. He had known Prompto for a couple years now. Could he even be trusted with something like this? Prompto didn't even know anything about Luna, about their relationship. Would he be able to keep it all hidden?

Sitting down at his seat, Noct got all the things he'd need for class out and he saw Prompto do the same. He glanced in Luna's direction and noticed that she had everything out and ready to go too. She didn't look his way at all and looked ever the diligent student. When Mr. Cassius strolled in and started class, Noct even thought he witnessed a little smile on her face.

Two hours later, and two different subjects done, it was now lunch time. This was what Luna and him had decided as 'the meeting' since they had a good hour to make it happen.

The night before they had spent a decent amount of time discussing how they were gonna handle all this, and how they were gonna meet. Both of them decided lunch would be the right time and that Noct would ask to sit with her in the cafeteria. It seemed like a simple plan, and Noct still planned on doing it, but now he had the added curiosity of Prompto from their conversation earlier. He'll just have to deal with that later.

Prompto and Noct stood from their seats and made their way to the school cafe, chatting all the while.

Their school was public, and any school in Insomnia, whether private or public, received enough funding to give every kid a nice cooked meal. Noct had to be wary of some of the meals they had because they tried to sneak vegetables in, but it was still good. It was better than anything he could cook anyways.

Grabbing their food, Noct quickly scanned the cafeteria in search of Luna. It took a second to find her, her brown hair blended in so well with everyone else, and without a word to Prompto, he made his way over towards her. When they got there, he moved in front of Luna on the other side of the table and pointed to the seat, his tray of food in his other hand. "Is anyone sitting here?"

Just like they had rehearsed it, Luna looked up and looked shy, almost as if she actually was. She shook her head, and muttered out a, "No…" before Noct sat down across from her.

Noct turned to look at Prompto who was eyeing him as if he was trying to read his mind, and after a few seconds, Prompto sat down beside him. Noctis picked up his fork and stabbed at the marinated chickatrice meat that lay over a bed of rice. He popped it in his mouth without a word, but he could feel Prompto's eyes on him.

Swallowing his food, Noct pointed at Luna with his fork before picking up another piece. "You're the new girl, Diana, right?" This was going to be so weird.

Luna nodded, making sure she didn't look at him for too long in fear of spooking the suspicious Prompto further who was currently sipping away at his water as his eyes darted between the two of them. Luna could tell he was trying to figure something out. "Yes, I mean, yeah. That's me."

"Oh? Where you from?" Noctis paused for effect. "I don't recognize your accent."

"I'm from Tenebrae, actually. I lived a few hours south of the capital."

"You're from Tenebrae?" Prompto excitedly interjected. Noctis had wondered how long it'd take for him to join in, but he certainly wasn't expecting that much from him.

Luna gave Prompto a dazzling smile. "I am."

"Did you ever meet the Oracle? Lady Lunafreya?"

Noctis watched as her eyes widened ever so slightly, and she immediately took an interest in her vegetable stew. Prompto's own salad was forgotten by this point.

"I haven't, sadly," Luna said after a few moments. "I've heard she's a great person though."

"Yeah," Prompto sighed. "You know, she wrote me once."

It was Noctis' turn to interrupt, and this time he did so by practically choking on his mouthful of rice. Prompto and Luna watched on in worry as he attempted to swallow some of his water to help it down. After it seemed he could easily breathe and speak again, Noct sent Luna a questioning glance, one that she eagerly ignored. "She did what now?" He asked roughly as he turned his gaze to Prompto.

The redness on his cheeks gave Noctis the impression he hadn't meant to give that information away.

"Well," Prompto started as he scratched the back of his head. "You see… a few years ago in middle school I found a hurt dog on the way home. I took her to my house, nursed her, and then she disappeared after she was healed. I named her Tiny."

"And?"

"And… a few weeks later I got a letter in the mail from a Lady Lunafreya Nox Fleuret thanking me for saving her dog and also for being a good friend to you. We didn't know each other at the time, but after that I kind of made it my mission to become your friend."

"You mean stalk me."

"I didn't stalk you!"

"Prompto, you would hide behind things and watch me. You did it for years."

Prompto huffed. "I was working through some things, and in any case, I only stayed away for a while after you called me heavy!"

"What?"

Noctis and Prompto turned to Luna and saw a shocked expression on her features. All of their food was practically cool at this point.

"What?" Noctis mirrored.

"You called him heavy?" Scolded Luna.

Frowning, Noctis leaned away from the table a bit and nearly dropped his fork. "I didn't mean to! He came over during break and was about to introduce himself to me. Before he did, he tripped and I went to help him up. I didn't mean to call him heavy!"

Noct felt the heat in Luna's scold. Prompto was practically reveling in it. Knowing he wasn't going to win no matter what he said, Noctis rolled his eyes, muttered something under his breath, and took a huge bite of chickatrice. He didn't even care it was cold.

"Anywho," Prompto started in an effort to change the subject after it got quiet between the three of them. "My name's Prompto. It's good to meet you, Diana. Do you want to have lunch with us tomorrow too? You see, Noct and I are a comedy duo. We'll be sure to make it fun…"

The Prince hesitated in watching Luna, wondering how she was gonna play it. When she nodded with a smile, Noctis had a feeling they had fully and effectively reeled Prompto in.

"I would love to."


	3. Chapter 3

It had taken only three days before Prompto was bursting with curiosity.

Everyday that they had lunch with Luna, or 'Diana', Noctis would catch Prompto watching them with prying eyes. Noctis never said her name just in case he'd call her Luna, and the two of them tried their hardest to not give anything away, but Prompto was too smart for that. He knew something was up, so when his blond friend came to him before school the day before the weekend, Noctis had a feeling he couldn't hide it anymore.

Prompto had pulled him to the side of the courtyard and they were now standing in the shadows. Noctis attempted to meet his assuming gaze, but found himself averting his eyes under the scrutiny. Pocketing his hands in his school slacks, Noctis attempted an nonchalant expression. "What's up?"

"Don't even. I know something's up. You and Diana try to not act like you know each other, but I see the way you look at each other when you think I'm not looking. There's something there." Prompto crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Did you meet this girl over summer break and have some summer lovin' when we weren't hanging out or something? You should've told me, dude. She's totally into you. I would've been your wingman."

Noctis' face was blank. "My… what?"

"She likes you, and you clearly like her. I don't know how you guys met, but you can stop hiding it from me. Plus I want to help you get the girl. She's amazing. You shouldn't let her go."

You have no idea, Noctis thought as he studied a pebble on the ground for a second.

The class bell rang through the air and Prompto and Noctis looked at each other.

"So you'll stop hiding it? And stop lying?" Prompto asked; not yet wanting to move until he got his friend's promise.

Sighing, Noctis nodded his head. "Yeah. I will. I'll need to, uh, talk to Diana."

"That's fine. Now let's go learn something."

Noctis watched as Prompto began walking off towards the school. He lagged behind him, his thoughts a jumbled mess, before relenting and walking off towards class as well.

When he entered their class, he glanced Luna's way and saw her beam at him. He tried to return the smile but failed. She appeared to notice something was off and he made a mental note to explain it to her later. If Prompto already believed that something was up with her, he just didn't know the whole truth, then maybe they could still continue to hide it even though he had promised him he wouldn't lie anymore.

This is starting to give me such a headache.

As Mr. Cassius walked in and started their General Mathematics class, Noct couldn't help but let his mind wander. There was a slight pounding in his temples and his gaze was fixed through the window on a nearby tree.

The fact that Prompto could pick up on the emotion between Noct's interactions with Luna, even though some of them were forced or held back, spoke volumes of Prompto's ability to read social interactions.

She likes you. He apparently picked up on that too, something that Noctis hadn't. Prompto was probably imagining things. There was no way Luna liked him. She was four years older than him and probably thought he was like her little brother.

That thought brought a sour grimace to his face.

He was lucky that Mr. Cassius never ever called on him, because otherwise he'd probably get in trouble for not paying attention. It was moments like this that he was thankful for being a Prince because occasionally some people would be afraid to speak to him, although he mostly hated it. Prompto was actually the first person to ever treat him normally even when he called him Prince.

And yet you're keeping this from him. Damn it.

He had to tell Prompto. He had to. Prompto could keep a secret. He normally acted like he was a non-stop talker, and he was for the most part, but if Noct trusted him with something, he would never break it. It's not like Prompto was hiding anything from him either. They were usually so open with each other, no secrets between them.

Now… how do I tell him?

Looking up at the clock, Noctis noticed they still had forty-five minutes before lunch. They were currently doing their History of Ancient Lucis lesson, and Noct pretended to get out his proper notebook and text.

If he wanted to already have this out in the open so all three of them could discuss then maybe he should give Prompto a note? On second thought, Noct figured it probably should be Luna who told him. He'd have to get to her first thing at lunch. It shouldn't be too hard considering Prompto believed they had spent the summer together, or whatever he thought they did.

Waiting for lunch, Noctis devised a plan.

He'd be able to pull Luna aside rather easily, figuring that Prompto would let them have some alone time to discuss them not lying to him anymore, although the actual discussion would be a whole lot different. He would have to make sure that Luna was okay with this, or else, because there was no way they'd be able to get past this without doing so. If Prompto could figure this all out in three days without backstory, he'd figure it all out eventually.

Hearing the lunch bell ringing, Noctis broke out of his reverie and tapped on Prompto's shoulder. The blond maneuvered in his seat to face him better, sitting sideways in his chair, and was about to ask him what was up, but Noctis beat him too it. "Hey, can you go down and save us a seat? I wanna talk to Diana. About what we talked about this morning."

"Oh," Prompto replied, making sure to draw out the vowel sound for emphasis. "Yeah, sure, but if you guys start dating then you'll have to help me find someone too. Oo, maybe she has a sister!"

"I don't think so." Prompto frowned. "Sorry, dude. We won't be long though, promise."

His friend seemed to accept this answer, although with a continued frown, and hopped up out of his seat to start heading towards the cafe. He waved to "Diana" as he passed her. She had been patiently waiting at the door for them the entire time.

Breathing in to only let out a sigh of relief, Noctis stood and made his way over to her. She saw his tired face and became worried.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

Noctis left the class and she walked with him down to the cafe. "Prompto knows something's up."

"What do you mean?"

He bit the inside of his cheek. "He knows we knew each other before, although he doesn't know how. He said he thought we had met in the summer time or something and were an item." The last part was said with a blush, and when he noticed the redness of her cheeks as well, Noct thought maybe Prompto was onto something. "We have to tell him."

Luna looked around and then pulled him to the side of the hallway. She waited for mostly everyone to walk away before whispering, "Could he keep it a secret though?"

"He kept the secret that you had sent him a letter all those years ago secret until three days ago, and he and I have been best friends for about two years now," Noctis explained as he put his hands in his pockets. The expression on her face told him that she had hoped he had forgotten about that. To be honest, he had been waiting for the perfect time to use it to his advantage. "And that wasn't even really something that needed to be kept secret."

"True," she muttered. "Also I wasn't keeping it from you, you know. I had just been worried because I knew how lonely you were."

Noctis gave her a soft smile. "I know. We can't keep lying to him though. He figured it out in three days. He's bound to figure out more, and at that point he'd be mad at us. You haven't been here long, but I can already tell he considers us a trio now and not just a duo."

It was Luna's turn to smile. She was quiet for a few moments, simply looking down at the floor in thought as she ran over her options. "Okay," she decided as she met his gaze. "Let's tell him after school in your apartment."

The fear in her eyes was easy to read, but he could see excitement as well. It almost seemed like this meant as much to her as it would to Prompto. They had only been a trio for not even a week, but Noct knew that this was the first real time that Luna had friends aside from Gentiana.

Resisting the urge to take her hand, they walked down to the cafe and quickly found Prompto, who was munching on a dinner roll. Noct sat down in front of his best friend and Luna sat beside him. Prompto gave them a bread-filled smile, and then swallowed. "So… should I be worried about becoming a third wheel?"

A squeak came out of Luna's throat and Noctis' entire face turned as red as a Lucian tomato. Prompto just looked confused. "What?"

Noct cleared his throat. "We're, uh… we're not together."

"But you two so clearly-"

"Prompto!" Noct interjected before he could say any more. He dared a glance at Luna and saw she was just as red as he felt. Shaking his head free of the thoughts running through his mind, Noctis cleared his throat again. "We're not dating."

Prompto's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Okay…"

Their lunch break felt rather awkward until Prompto got Noct to talk about a new game app that just released called King's Knight. As they both began to get into a serious conversation over it, Luna went to go get both her and Noct something to eat.

The rest of their lunch break flew by, and so did the rest of their school day. Noctis was able to get Prompto to come over to his place rather easily, and the two of them waved goodbye to Luna as she got into her car. They got into their own as Ignis drove and after twenty minutes thanks to barely any traffic, they were in Noct's apartment with their homework out on the dining room table. Before they could start though, he grabbed Prompto's attention and told him to wait at the table.

"I'll be back in a minute," Noct said as he exited his apartment and ran to Luna's, leaving a dumbfounded Prompto behind.

Two minutes later, and after lying to Irene about why Luna was coming over to his apartment, Noct walked in with a casually dressed Luna in tow, and Prompto stood up in surprise.

"Diana, what're you-"

"Prompto, please sit down," interjected Noctis as he locked his front door.

"But I-"

It was Luna's turn to interrupt him as she sat down across the table from him, her hands clasped together on the hard wood. "Prompto, Noctis and I wanted to talk to about something we couldn't tell you in school."

The blond teen turned to Noctis with furrowed brows. "What about?"

Noct sat down next to Luna, and watched as Prompto looked at the both of them like they were hiding something. Thankfully, they wouldn't be anymore.

Luna knew it was her time to speak up, and she looked at Noctis quickly for confidence before squarijg her gaze at her new friend across from her. "Prompto, what we are about to tell you could endanger my life," she stated. He studied her in reply.

Taking in a deep breath, Luna let it out slowly and shakily. Butterflies felt like they were going crazy inside of her stomach and chest. She just hoped this wasn't a mistake. She liked Prompto greatly.

"I'm…" she started quietly. "My real name is Lunafreya Nox Fleuret." Prompto's eyebrows shot straight up, and Noct was glad he wasn't eating or drinking anything.

Luna could see the millions of questions in his eyes and continued as calmly as she could.

"Just over a month ago my life was threatened by the Empire in a way that wouldn't have killed me, but would still put me in danger. My brother and adviser found out and devised a plan to help me escape. With the help of King Regis, I now live in Insomnia, next door to Noctis. They dyed my hair and it takes over an hour to apply my camouflage of make up."

"She's also wearing fake contacts," Noct added.

"I'm living here in secret, and we didn't want to tell you for fear of my life or now yours, but Noctis told me we could trust you, and we didn't want to lie to you anymore. Can we trust you?"

Noct noticed how hopeful she sounded at the end as he watched her. He could practically feel the loneliness radiating off of her, and knew she needed someone aside from him just as much as he needed someone aside from her. Turning his sight to Prompto, he saw him with his mouth agape and his eyes wide. He could see the wheels turning in his friend's head, moving way more quickly than either him or Luna could fathom.

After a few seconds, Prompto nodded. "Yes," he breathed. "Of course you can, I just-"

"I know," Noct agreed. "When I figured out that it was her, we had huge talk about it and I was pretty angry. ...Not at her, but at my dad, Ignis, Gladio might know too…"

"How long have you know who she was?"

Noctis took in a breath. "A little under a week."

"And how long have you been living next to him?" Prompto asked Luna.

Biting her lip, Luna looked down at her hands. "I've been living here for about a month now."

Silence seemed to stretch over them, all three lost in their own minds.

Noct felt a sense of despondency; a certain fear that Luna may have to be in hiding for the rest of their life if they were lucky. If they weren't lucky, she could be attacked and killed at any moment for escaping-her brother too. He'd be without her, or he'd die protecting her.

 _I need to be training with Gladio more than just once a week now._ He would also have to listen to Ignis and read all of his political reports too. He needed to know everything that was going on, know everything he was up against.

He had to save her.

"So, um…." Prompto started in an effort to break the silence. "Do you wanna do your homework with us, Luna?"

The lack of an honorific didn't go unnoticed by the royals, and they both gave him a tired, but happy smile.

"Sure," she said as she stood from her seat. "I'll go get my books."

Once she had left the apartment, Noctis moved his own books closer to him, but Prompto grabbed his attention.

"I'm glad you guys told me," he muttered while looking at the table. "I-I know it couldn't of been easy, and I swear I won't say anything, but…"

Noct felt something in his stomach twist uncomfortably. "But…?"

Prompto raised his eyes and stared his best friend down. "I want to start training with you and Gladio. If she's in any danger, I want to help protect her."

"Prompto…" Noctis sighed. "You don't have-"

"I know I don't have to, but I want to. Plus, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't help protect my best friend's future girlfriend."

Flames felt like they erupted behind Noctis' skin and he sputtered for a moment. "I-I told you earlier…"

"I know, I know, but come on Noct. Everyone can tell. Even a plebe like me!"

Noctis threw a crumbled up piece of paper at him and Prompto attempted to dodge it with a laugh. Luna came back through the front door at that exact moment and held back a giggle when she saw Noctis' foul looking face and Prompto's snickering expression.

"Did I miss something?"

"Oh, we were just-"

"Prompto was just being an ass, but I took care of it." Noctis glowered as he picked up his pencil and maneuvered his notebook closer to him.

Prompto laughed, and patted at the seat next to him. "Come on Luna. Let me see if I can help you with math. I know you said you were having trouble yesterday."

* * *

 

It had taken some doing, and a lot of sweet talking, but Noctis was able to persuade Gladio into training Prompto as well on their training days.

Just like Noct had suspected, Gladio knew about Luna, and completely understood why Noctis wanted to start training three days a week, although he still didn't have the faintest idea as to how close they were. Noct preferred it that way, but if Prompto kept on teasing him, he was gonna find out eventually. The Prince wasn't looking forward to that, but at least Noct could now beat Prompto's ass for "training" purposes. Which he was currently doing.

Prompto had a wooden sword, but the key word in this instance was 'had'. It was flying across the room as Prompto fell on his ass. He was rubbing his wrist in the place where Noctis had hit it to devoid him of his weapons, and he was wincing. He was wearing a pair of jeans, along with a t-shirt and was fitted into a safety vest and some elbow and knee guards.

"Dude… could you be a little bit easier on me?"

"You wanted to train," Noctis said as he walked closer to him, swinging his own wooden sword around in a playful manner. He was fitted the same as Prompto, only he was in his Prince fatigues. "This is how Gladio trained me. He never went easy on me."

"Damn straight," the older man agreed. "We started training right after his accident once he was fully healed and I never was soft on him. He used to hate me for it."

Noct rolled his eyes and glanced Gladio's way. "You also were a huge asshole when I was younger."

"Yeah, well, I thought you were a stuck up Prince."

It was Prompto who spoke next as he forced himself to his feet. "What do you mean? He still is a stuck up Prince."

Noctis took one of the small wooden daggers hidden in his fatigue pocket and hurled it at Prompto's chest, returning him to the floor out of surprise.

"Hey!"

"Talk shit, get hit."

Gladio let out a bellowing laugh at his place from the floor. He was sitting with his legs crossed and his back against the wall. His own wooden sword was lying across his lap, having not been touched in half an hour.

The three of them had been in the training room of the Citadel for over an hour now. They were starting out with Prompto's defense, much to the blond's dismay, and while he still sucked, he was getting hit less than he had when they started. It was mostly Noctis attacking with Gladio coaching from the sidelines. They were waiting on four other Crownsguard to show up before they started Noctis' training.

It had been almost two weeks since he had found out about Luna, and barely over a week since Prompto was told. Prompto had been at two trainings before today, and Noctis had been constantly training with two or more combatants.

He no longer had a hard time anticipating moves like he had during the first surprise of multiple offenders two weeks ago. He had quickly gotten accustomed to constantly watching his back, and his flexibility that him and Gladio had been working on was coming in handy. Without barely even trying, Noctis could avoid attacks by either simply moving out of the way, or by doing some low grade gymnastics. He just needed to learn to warp.

Looking at his personal bodyguard, Noctis swung his wooden sword until it was resting against his shoulders. "Hey Gladio?"

The older man sat up straighter against the coldness of the wall and raised an eyebrow. Prompto was still sitting on the ground, babying the small ark left on his chest from the blunt wooden dagger. "What is it?"

"When am I gonna learn to warp?"

A thoughtful expression graced Gladio's features and he put a hand to his chin. "You know, I'm not sure. The King never did specify."

"But I have the power right?"

"Yeah," Gladio gave him a nod. "It's an innate power you were born with, just like extracting elemental energy. You should be able to do it."

"Can you do it?"

"Yeah, I can. The King gives the power to the Kingsglaive, and the sworn shields. I was taught how to do it a few years ago-"

"-you just don't like to." Noctis finished as he walked over to him. Prompto was laying down at this point, taking the time to relax before he might have to fight again.

Prompto had heard about warping before, during one school day when Noctis was discussing his training. He sighed wistfully, "I wish I could warp."

"Same," Noctis agreed as he walked to the middle of the large room. "Does it only work with weapons or can I use this thing?" Noctis waved his wooden sword at Gladio.

"It only works with weapons."

Pursing his lips a little bit, Noctis gave Gladio a pleasing look. "Can I choose one?"

"You're not ready for real weapons yet, Noct," Gladio answered with a scowl.

"Why not? I've been training every week since I was ten years old. I'm seventeen now, almost eighteen. I'm in my last year of high school. Why can't I?"

Gladio's scowl worsened and he stood up, his long sword fitting itself into his hand with ease. He was wearing a pair of sweats, sneakers, and a hoodie. He was forgoing a hat on his head today and his growing hair was touching the back of his neck.

Prompto seemed to sense that something was about to go down and since he was still laying on the floor, he rolled to safety against the wall and sat up. There was no way he was gonna miss this.

"You think you're ready for real steel?"

"Hell yeah. If I'm gonna protect Luna I need to be able to defend myself against real weapons, and not just wooden swords," Noctis fired back- the intensity and heat rising within the room as the two of them began to pace against each other in a circle.

For every step forward Gladio took, Noctis took a step back. After a few seconds of a stand off, Gladio threw his wooden sword behind him, and the clanking sound it made against the floor seemed to create some nerves in Noctis' stomach.

Prompto almost wished he had popcorn.

Within a split second, Gladio had summoned his long sword and was rushing at Noctis. The Prince had barely enough time to think before his wooden sword was clashing with the blunt side of Gladio's; the wood cracking loudly until Noctis jumped back and did a one handed back flip to further his distance.

"What the hell, Gladio?" Noctis shouted, fury burning in his blue eyes as his sneakers slide a few inches against the shiny wooden floors.

Gladio took his sword in both hands and ran towards him again. "You say you're ready for real weapons," he raised his long sword high above his head and brought it down-Noctis barely scraped by and felt the wind from the swing as he dodged it. "Then let's fight with real weapons!"

The sworn shield maneuvered his blade right before it would've pierced the ground, and sliced into the air on his right towards Noct at a diagonal angle. Noct used his nearly broken wooden sword to take the hit before it could meet his body, and the piece that was barely hanging on ripped from itself and flew to the side.

"I don't have one you idiot!" Noctis argued as he grabbed for the other dagger that had been hidden in his other pocket. Using it as a diversion, he threw it at Gladio with all of his might using his right hand and raced towards the nearest steel weapon that was hanging up on the wall behind Gladio.

With ease, Gladio used the wide angle of his sword at the hilt to block the attack that had been aimed at his face, but it gave Noctis enough time to reach the Engine Blade.

He grabbed it, took hold of it in his right hand, and threw it right at Gladio's feet. A strange feeling he had never experienced before took hold, and before he knew what was happening, his body glowed blue and his entire being had transported itself to the Engine Blade. His hands reached the hilt in the span of not even a second, and he was kicking Gladio in the side while using the sword as a way to balance himself.

The older man had been in the middle of turning towards Noct when the Prince kicked him right under the ribs. He flew a good five feet and landed on his side, his sword being released and clashing against the floor before disappearing in a blue haze.

Noctis had fallen to the floor after kicking him, and was currently sitting on his behind, eyes wide as he took in what he just did.

Prompto wasn't fairing much better, his mouth and eyes wide open as he sat stunned, having just witnessed everything that had happened with the perfect seat but not really comprehending it.

A few moments past by, and Gladio groaned. It seemed to break both of the teens out of their stupors and they both rushed to him.

"Gladio!" Noct nearly yelled as he skidding onto his knees and attempted to roll Gladio onto his back.

"Are you okay?" Prompto worryingly asked as he reached Gladio's other side.

The older man groaned and put a hand to the place where he was kicked, not daring to apply precious to the already painful area. He winced, and before too long he was chuckling.

Prompto and Noctis shared a look of befuddlement.

"The hell are you laughing at, Gladio?"

"You…" Gladio wheezed as he attempted to reintroduce air into his lungs. "You just did… your first warp strike."

"Yeah, and it was so cool," Prompto boasted before noticing Noct's glare. "... But, ah, you're still hurt! We have to take you to a doctor!"

The door to the training room flung open and Ignis and the other Crownsguard that were supposed to fight Noct darted inside. "What is all the commotion? -Gladio! What happened?"

Gladio was still chuckling, albeit in pain, as Noct's retainer came to his side. "I challenged Noct and… he performed his first warp-strike."

"And it was awesome!"

"Prompto!" Scolded both Noct and Ignis as they attempted to get Gladio to his feet. It was a rocky start, but as soon as he was standing, all four of them began limping towards the infirmary down the hall.

"Do you think the nurse could look at my wrist?" Prompto inquired as they exited the room. "Cause it still hurts."


	4. Chapter 4

"King Regis, sir."

Continuing to stare out at the Crown City of Insomnia through the window of his study, Regis Lucis Caelum took in a deep breath through the nose and let it out in a sigh. Not even bothering to turn his desk chair around, he spoke, "Yes, Cor?"

"I have that report you wanted, sir."

Regis closed his eyes and willed away the ache in his bones.

He had been holding up the Wall of Insomnia for almost 30 years now. He couldn't even hold up the Old Wall, and should Niflheim ever attack, the power of the ancient Kings wouldn't be able to save them.

He was tired.

"Sir?"

Regis swiveled the chair around slowly so as to not make him dizzy, and saw the worried expression Cor wore. Waving away the unspoken question in his eyes, he soon reached for the folder his long time friend and guard was holding. "Just the normal report?"

"Yes," Cor answered. "The Eclipse is doing well at her station, and her and the Night have added on a third, Irene reported."

The King opened the folder and skimmed through it until he came across the handwritten name of Prompto Argentum. Seeing his code name written right beside his real one, Regis glanced up at Cor. "And the Performer is trustworthy?"

"He was adopted by his parents when he was one year old. There isn't much detail as to how, but we have a source who suggests he's the son of Versatel Besithia."

That made Regis' eyebrows raise in shock. "Niflheim's leading engineer? How did the son of one of the most important men in Niflheim's government make into Lucis?"

"We're not entirely sure," Cor said as he decided to take the seat across from Regis. Lifting his leg up so his ankle could rest on his knee, Cor rested an elbow on the armrest and scratched at his beard. "There's no word on the birth mother, it seems that she may have died. No one even knew the engineer had a child, so I suspect the mother fled to find the Performer a better home."

The King sat back against his chair and narrowed his eyes. "You believe he poses no threat?"

"We've had a guard watching him ever since he and the Night were young. His parents have never been home and he attempted to befriend the Night at a young age. Sources say the Night hurt his feelings by accident and the Performer stayed away until he lost weight. They've been friends now for years."

"You didn't answer my question, Cor," King Regis scolded. "Does he pose a threat?"

The Crownsguard shook his head. "After years of surveillance, I can say that I trust for them to be near him and to befriend him. He's only ever interacted with the Night, and now the Eclipse. He's never had any interaction with anyone else, barely even his parents."

"And that doesn't seem odd to you?"

"To be frank, sir," Cor said as he stood his ground. "I think he's lived a sad and lonely life, and noticed the Night may have felt the same. It took him a few years but now they're friends, and if I were you I would be thankful for it. Either way, we're gonna continue to keep an eye on all three of them."

When Cor mentioned his son having a sad and lonely life, Regis couldn't even get upset with him.

It was true. Noctis had a sand and lonely life, and there was nothing Regis could've done to make it easier. He had already tried his best, but his son was destined to die. It was already seen and asked for.

Feeling a headache coming on, Regis gave his old friend a sorrowful smile. "Thank you, Cor. That is all."

The Crownsguard gave a curt nod and stood from his seat.

Once he was out of the room, King Regis sagged against the high end upholstery, the emotional pain in his chest overtaking him for a second.

He could only hope he was helping Noctis as best he could. He wanted his son to have a fighting chance.

* * *

 

"Come on! You can do better than that!"

Noctis pursed his lips before grimacing, his body increasingly tired and aching as he had spent the last two hours trying to perfect his warping.

It was going badly.

To make matters worse, Luna was here during this training session along with the entire gang. They had rented out the banquet hall in his apartment complex so Luna could watch and be a part of it. Noct was doing everything he could to bring her out of the shell she had used as a protection these last several years, and he wanted to help her stop being lonely. He figured letting her watch him and his three friends train would be okay, but he didn't expect to suck so much in front of her.

Fixing determined eyes at the several foot high mark Gladio had fixed on the wall, Noctis chucked his dagger towards it, stabbing it right in the middle, and he felt the dematerialization taking over his form as he attempted to warp to the weapon, using the same feeling that had encompassed him the first time. His hand had barely touched the handle of the hilt as his body rematerialized before he was falling to the ground, nearly spraining an ankle. The dagger seemed to know that he had failed, because it dislodged from the target and fell to the floor, missing Noct by a few inches.

"Damn it!" Noctis choked out as he attempted to breathe. The wind had gotten knocked out of him.

"Can't we put the mark somewhere where he won't keep getting hurt?" Prompto pleaded as he watched Noctis struggle to turn himself over so he could get up. "He's gonna end up breaking something."

Ignis stayed quiet with his arms crossed, and Luna sent Gladio a worried expression from her seat on the floor next to Prompto.

Sighing through his nose, Gladio crossed his arms and saw Noctis attempt to stand. He was shaky, but he made it, and he angrily grabbed at his weapon. "Does the Prince wish to stop?"

"Not until I get this," he nearly shouted in anger. "This shouldn't be so hard! I did it perfect last session!"

"It may have been because you were in a simulated fight," added Ignis.

Prompto scoffed incredulously. "Simulated? Gladio full on attacked him."

"It worked didn't it?" Gladio shot back.

"Only because he had felt threatened."

Noctis, who had gone quiet while his friends started to bicker, limped several feet away from the target, and Luna seemed to be the only one still paying attention to him. He could feel her eyes on him, and a part of him felt embarrassed, while the other part of him was frustrated beyond belief. Why was this so hard?

Pushing his lips together in a thin, angry line, Noctis threw the dagger at the mark, forced his body to warp over to it, and just like before, as soon as his hand touched the hilt he was falling to the floor.

The sound of his body connecting with the hard surface face first made everyone's head turn, and when he screamed in pain, everyone was rushing to his side.

Luna made it to him first, her blue eyes glossy with worry as she hesitated in touching him once she was by his side. "Noctis!" The other three were saying his name as well and Ignis was asking where it hurt.

Forcing his lips to nearly disappear in a closed mouth wince, Noctis took in deep breaths through his nose. He refused to open his eyes, refused to see the embarrassment he felt. Attempting to roll over onto his back, he cradled his wrist as soon as he was turned over. "My wrist…" he hissed.

Luna willed her power to her hands in a second, making them emit a warm, golden glow as she lightly rested them on his hurt joint. The boys watched on in awe as she healed him, practically all of their mouths open as they had never before witnessed the power of the Oracle. It was a good thing there wasn't anyone in the hall but them, because otherwise her cover would have been blown.

Warmth spread up Noctis' arm and into his chest as she gradually increased the pressure of her hands, making the pain slowly dissipate until there was only a small ache. His face went slack as she healed him, and soon he was looking at her in awe as well.

She pulled her hands away from him for a second before letting her left rest on his shoulder. "Does it still hurt?" She whispered.

Shaking his head, Noctis attempted to sit up, and Luna and Prompto helped him do so. All five of them were sitting on the floor, with four of them watching Luna. Her eyes barely moved from Noctis' but she knew that they were all staring at her. She could feel it.

"Do you want to stand?" Luna asked as she raised her hand to his cheek.

He could feel the softness of her skin and it caused him to blush. Nodding, he stayed silent as Prompto and Gladio helped him stand. Ignis dusted off his back once he was upright and Luna walked away to retrieve the dagger that had fallen from the mark and skidded a few feet away.

"I think we're done for today," Gladio's voice rumbled. "We'll pick it back up in two days."

"Y-Yeah," Noctis agreed as he shooed away the still fretting Prompto and over protective Ignis.

Ignis didn't heed his motions and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Do you want some help getting to your apartment?"

Rolling his eyes, and attempting to shake off the weird feeling in his chest, Noctis said, "Nah, I think I'll be fine. Luna can take me up."

At the sound of her name, Luna appeared next to Gladio and handed him the dagger. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he stays upright," she joked.

Prompto smiled at her, the two sharing a moment as Noctis rolled his eyes again. Gladio and Ignis went to retrieve the mark, and any other things they may have brought, and the five of them soon exited the banquet hall.

Noctis' friends waved goodbye while Ignis told him to take some painkillers ahead of time just in case. The Prince agreed, and Ignis looked at Luna for confirmation. Once he got it, he ushered the other two out, leaving just Noctis and Luna.

Silence stretched between them as they walked towards the elevator. They pressed the up button and waited for the door to open, and Noctis admitted to himself that this was the most awkward he had ever felt in front of Luna.

A minute later the elevator doors opened and Luna used the keycard for it to let them go up to their floor. As the elevator doors dinged shut, Luna cast a glance beside her and tried to figure out what was going through his head. The feeling of the elevator moving upward seemed to jolt Noctis out of his silence as he whispered, "Thanks for, uh… for healing me."

"You're welcome," she murmured. "I'm glad I could heal you."

It went back to being quiet again, and he hated that he didn't have anything to say. That feeling that was in his chest when she healed him, it was still there, and he couldn't place what it was. His wrist was still warm; most likely it was her power still attempting to heal whatever remaining damage was there.

"You know… Noctis…"

He turned his head to the side and looked at her in askance.

"I don't want you to train yourself too hard. I don't want you to hurt yourself. To keep on hurting yourself."

Narrowing his eyes, the elevator dinged again before he could speak and Luna exited the space before him. He followed her out, and tried to find his words. "Luna…" She wouldn't turn around to meet his gaze, and that made him a little angry. With a confidence he had never known before, he moved until he was in front of her, and lifted her chin gently with his fingers to forced her to look at him. "You're in danger. I'm not gonna sit idly by and just let things happen."

She averted her gaze due to intensity of his. "I have Irene and the other guards. I'll be fine. I just-"

"Luna."

She hesitated in meeting his eyes. The air between them shifted, and it suddenly felt hotter in the hallway than it ever had before. He normally wasn't this confident around her. What had changed?

Their eyes met, blue on blue, and Luna had a hard time breathing.

"As long as you are in danger," he started. "I will always be there to protect you. I've been training all my life, and there are a lot of things I still need to work on, but if you're here, and your life is at stake, then mine will be too."

Luna bit her lip. "But why?"

"You're my best friend," he whispered with a sideways smile. "I care about you. You're probably the most important person in my life other than my father. How could you think that I wouldn't want to protect you?"

Her lip trembled slightly and she moved her chin away from his fingers. The skin where he had touched her felt hot. "I-I… you're my best friend too. I just worry that with everything and the empire… I don't want to-I can't see you get hurt because of me."

Luna started walking towards her apartment, moving so slowly that she was still far away from her door. "If you were to die, because of me… Noctis… I don't think I could-"

His arms engulfed her from behind and held her to him, their bodies not even centimeters apart. His face was right next to hers and she could feel his breath on her jaw. It sent shivers down her spine. Her hands didn't stay at her sides after a few seconds and moved up to hold onto his arms.

"Noctis…?"

"If you were to die, Luna..." he started as he rested his cheek against hers, and for the first time since she had been in Insomnia, she realized just how much taller he was than her. At the thought of her death, she could feel him trembling ever so slightly. "If you were to die… I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. I would be lost without you."

"B-but your friends…"

"Luna…. Not only are you my best friend, but you're also practically family. Plus, if, or should I say when we do have to fight, the three of them will be beside me fighting for you. We're not gonna let anything happen to you."

Between the feeling of his arms around her and his face right next to hers, as well as the fear that had been inside of her for so long it was starting to feel like a normal everyday emotion, Luna couldn't hold it in any longer.

She had been so scared for so long now, and after finding out the Empire's plan, she couldn't handle it. She had been holding it in, and with each passing day it caused more and more physical pain. When she had told Noctis, it took the tiniest bit off, but after he wanted to start training more to protect her, the feeling of despair and unease increased. Her fears were becoming too much… but being in Noctis' arms right now, and hearing his words, it seemed to make everything go away.

She didn't have to do this alone. She had friends to protect her, both inside and outside of a Insomnia.

But his destiny… a voice inside of her head reminded.

Feeling a tear fall down her cheek, she saw it rest onto Noct's arm before rolling away. He seemed to know that she was crying, and he only held her that much closer.

If he was going to fight for her, then she was going to fight for him.

He was just as much her family as she was his.

"Noctis," she whispered; her voice a little wavy as she fought back the emotion. He made a sound in his threat in reply. "If you're gonna fight for me, then I wanna fight for you too."

Her words appeared to flow into him, and she gave him the time he needed to process it. Soon, he was turning her around in his arms and resting his forehead against hers as his hands trailed down to take her smaller ones into his.

"You don't have to do that," he said, as he remembered what she had told him all those years ago about being the Chosen King.

Luna squared her gaze with his as she squeezed his hands. "I want to."

Noctis closed his eyes and felt her squeeze his hands again for emphasis, before opening them and whispering, "Okay."

The feeling in his chest was starting to dissipate, and he could feel a blush rising in his cheeks. Clearing his throat, and effectively ruining the moment, Noctis slowly let go of her hands and stepped back. He tried to keep his eyes with hers, but lost the battle after only a moment.

"We'll probably have to, uh, discuss it with Gladio. He probably won't want to do it."

Luna noticed the change in him, saw how quickly his confidence faded, and thought over if she should take charge. Deciding to not push it, especially since she was still feeling rather shy herself, she looked at the floor for a moment as she moved her shorter hair out of the way, before looking back up at Noctis. His face was the color of a ripe Lucian tomato.

"I'd like to be there when it's discussed. I want him to know why I want to do it in case he says no."

Nodding, Noctis quietly told her that that would be fine and he'd talk to her later. After she said her goodbye he quickly walked to his apartment and shut the door, leaving her confused and curious at the sudden changes.

She walked to her own apartment, and greeted Umbra with a scratch behind the ears when she opened the door and he ran up to her. Irene saw her enter and noticed the strange expression on her face.

"What is it?" The older woman inquired from her bedroom door.

"I just had a strange experience with Noctis," she answered as she went to sit on the couch. "We were downstairs where he was training, and he hurt himself so I healed him and then… he kind of changed."

Irene went to sit down next to her, moving Umbra's tail out of the way as he got up on the couch. "Changed how?"

Luna turned to Irene and thought about what had transpired. "He-after I healed him, of course, had this new sense of confidence. Something I had never seen before, not since we were little."

"What did he do that was so different?"

Blushing, Luna took the time to study Irene's features as she tried to guess her thoughts when she spoke. "We, um… we had a moment in the hallway. We've only really touched each other once, other than a few brushes here and there, but in the hallway he was… affectionate."

Irene sat back against the cushions and furrowed her brow. Her long, black hair was tied up in a ponytail, with a few strands wispy around her face. The creases of her face were a bit exaggerated as she thought to herself, and Luna could see the wheels turning behind her brown eyes.

"So you say this happened after you healed him?"

"Correct."

"And he hadn't been affectionate since you guys were kids?"

"Yes."

Irene went silent for a second as she thought it over. Umbra sat between them and started to go to sleep.

"What if when you healed him, you also healed his lack of confidence, only it was temporary? Like his lack of confidence is the byproduct of an injury?"

Eyes wide, Luna felt as if a lightbulb went off above her head. "His father did say that he used to be more outgoing before his accident."

"Accident? You mean the one that sent him to Tenebrae?"

Luna nodded her head. "My mother healed his injury and we became fast friends afterwards, but now, up until I just healed him, he has been a bit distant in an emotional sense. I thought it was just our getting used to being around each other again."

"You know, this interaction may have shown you his true feelings," the retired Kingsglaive reasoned. "Especially since it was because you temporarily healed his heart and mind."

"That does make sense."

"The thing is… do you want to explore what a more confident Noctis would do and be?"

Luna took a second to think it over. Her cheeks heated up at the thought of them being affectionate and Irene laughed.

"Honey, you have it just as bad as he does. If one of y'all doesn't do something soon, nothing may ever happen."

"You may have a point there," Luna conceded as she sighed.

Standing, Irene strolled towards the kitchen and started making a cup of Ebony coffee. "You might as well make the first move, Lady Luna. Prince Noctis isn't very aware, especially if he's too wrapped up in his own mind to need healing."

* * *

 

He hadn't moved in five minutes.

As soon as he had closed his door, he slide down the thick wood and just sat down on his ass. His heart was racing and his mind was going just as fast.

"What in the hell did I just do?" Noctis asked himself incredulously.

Running through the conversation and images in his head, he just remembered feeling warm inside and free, like nothing was holding him back.

He had been so close to Luna he could've kissed her. He had initiated contact. He had been making a move, and she… enjoyed it. He had been able to see the happiness in her eyes behind the fear. It was clear as day that she felt something. Why couldn't he handle making a move himself but was fine when Luna made a move?

Cursing, Noctis hit his head against the door behind him.

"What am I gonna do now?"


	5. Chapter 5

He had been thinking about what happened all night.

Usually he could fall asleep rather quickly, but last night he was up practically the entire time. There was a few moments where he thought he was asleep, although it felt more like he was meditating. He felt exhausted when he woke up, while his mind felt wide awake, and his heart and his head felt like they were at war with each other. This shouldn't be so hard, so why was it?

While Noctis was brushing his teeth he let his thoughts run wild, hoping to come to some sort of resolution. Resolution did not come.

He had ended up brushing his teeth a little too hard and too long, because by the time he came to and spit, there was a little blood that showed up in the sink. Making a face, he quickly finished up and went to go put his school uniform on. By the time he got to his front door, he hesitated.

What if she was waiting for him? What if he wasn't ready to face her?

"Why are you being so stupid?" Noct asked himself as he threw open his door and practically slammed it in annoyance.

Walking down to the elevator, he saw Luna waiting just like he had feared, and nerves took hold of his stomach. When she turned around, he could feel the heat in his cheeks and he cursed himself for being so shy around her.

"Good morning, Noctis," she greeted as she gave him a smile.

Clearing his throat, he joined her by the elevator. "M-Morning."

"How's your wrist?"

"Fine.." he muttered again as he refused to meet her eyes.

After last night, there was just too much emotion in him to comprehend, let alone act on it. The way she was looking at him now and the way she had looked at him last night, they were one in the same. She liked him, and he… what did he feel for her?

Noct swallowed against the lump in his throat, and the elevator dinged, signaling the car's arrival.

They both got in, and Luna hit the L for lobby. They went down in silence, and Noctis was both thankful for it and hated it all the same. When the elevator doors opened again, Luna quickly hit the button to shut them, leaving Noctis shocked from his place behind her.

After they fully closed, she continued to stand in front with her back to him as she spoke. "I know you're nervous after last night. I'm a little nervous too. The way you changed… it was rather weird, but if I'm being honest, Noctis…" Luna turned her head and flashed him a sweet smile, her eyes bright and welcoming. "If you ever find the courage to be that confident again, I will gladly welcome it."

With that, she hit the open doors button and exited the car when she was able, leaving a shocked silent Noctis behind her. The doors almost closed again before he was able to will his legs forward and he walked out of his apartment building feeling as if he was floating. He made it to Ignis and the car within a few moments, and entered without a word.

Ignis started the car but didn't go anywhere. "What is it?"

"I, uh…" Noctis hesitated in meeting his gaze as he settled in. "Something weird happened last night."

"Weird how?"

Noct averted his eyes. "After Luna healed me… after we got off the elevator, I, uhm…" he ran a embarrassed hand through his hair and motioned for Ignis to start driving, because if they didn't start moving soon he wouldn't be able to speak. After they were a good block into the drive, he tried again, and attempted to ignore Ignis' look of confusion. "After we got off the elevator, we had a talk and I kind of… I may have… come onto her."

He saw Ignis' hands twitch in the steering wheels in the corner of his eyes as he looked straight ahead at traffic.

"In what way?"

Noctis grit his teeth for a second. "I held her hands and was close enough to, to, uh, kiss her. We touched foreheads."

"I see."

It was quiet for a few seconds, and he felt like he was gonna burn up into flames.

"Did you like being that close to her?" Ignis asked.

"Y-Yeah," Noctis admitted as he gripped his backpack that sat on his lap. "That's the thing. I-I liked it, but doing that-making a move like that-"

"-isn't normal for you," finished Ignis.

Noctis just nodded his head. Chancing a glance at his long time retainer and recent good friend, he elaborated, "After she healed me there was this weird feeling in my chest and whenever her and I were together yesterday I just felt… free? Like nothing was holding me back, and I just did what I wanted to while we talked."

"And what did you talk about that caused this affection?"

Noct deflated a little bit in his seat. Looking out the window, he saw they still had a good ten minutes before they'd be there, and he let his eyes roam from one passing person to another. "She said she was worried; that she didn't want me to die. I told her that if she were to die, especially if I didn't do anything to stop it, that I'd be lost."

"So the affection was also a matter of comfort for the both of you?"

Nodding, Noct stayed quiet and waited for Ignis' thought process to come to a conclusion.

It didn't take long.

His older friend glanced at him for a second before returning his eyes back to the road as he declared, "You clearly have feelings for the lady, and if she liked the affection as well, then I believe it is safe to say that you two have mutual feelings. The only problem here is, do you want to act on them?"

"I don't…" Noctis sighed again. "I don't know. It could put her life in danger. Plus I don't even know what kind of feelings I have exactly."

Ignis felt his lips twitch in a slight frown. "Her life is already in danger. This is a matter of, would you regret not trying if the worst was to happen?"

That made something in Noctis' head click, and he sat in silence as he mulled it over. Ignis seemed to understand, and stayed quiet as well.

By the time they reached the school, Noctis had yet to say anything, and Ignis understood why. While the retainer believed that they should do what's best for Lady Lunafreya, he also wanted his friend and prince to be happy, as well as his princess. Noctis may seem ignorant to his feelings now, but he was sure that he was only hiding behind the ruse of feigning dumb.

Biting the inside of his cheek, Noctis opened the car door and turned to Ignis. He muttered a thank you and left, leaving Ignis to watch him as he walked away.

* * *

 

Gladiolus had been waiting for twenty minutes.

He was in the Citadel, right outside the King's personal study, just waiting to be called in. He didn't know who was already in there, or what was being said. Hell, he wasn't even sure why he was here. The last time he had had a "security meeting" with the King was less than a week ago, and they were having strict weekly meetings, so the fact he was here for the second time that week meant this must be important. He just didn't know what this was about, exactly.

Breathing in deeply, the rapidly closing in on middle aged man crossed his arms as he stood outside the room. If this was gonna take much longer, he'd start getting hungry, and he knew the Citadel didn't have any cup noodles. Just as he was starting to decide which cup noodles he should eat when he got home, the door opened, and Ignis' uncle, who was King Regis' personal butler, came out.

"The King will see you now," he said as he fully exited the room, but kept the door open for the sworn shield. "Please bear in mind that this is similar to your weekly security meeting."

Gladio's eyes narrowed for a second, and he lightly slapped the butler's shoulder when he passed him. "Thank you, sir," he replied in farewell as the man closed the door behind him.

Looking forward, Gladio saw King Regis sitting in his desk chair, and the man didn't look too happy.

The sound of his boots seemed to echo in the rather large room, and for some reason Gladio felt nervous as he sat down in the chair across from the desk. "You asked for me, your Majesty?"

King Regis gave a small nod in acknowledgement and motioned to several papers laying on his desk. "I've been told that the Night has been failing at warping, and also that that the Eclipse has started attending the training sessions."

Gladio cleared his throat, and sat up a little straighter in his seat. "Yes, sir. That was the very last session, which was two days after our last security briefing. Whenever the Night attempts to warp, he always seems to either lose focus or the warp doesn't completely finish. It's whenever he touches the hilt of the weapon, it's like he thinks he's there, but he's not." He averted his eyes for a second as he worried the inside of his cheek. "As for the Eclipse… the Night brought her so she could be around other people. He won't tell anyone, but you can tell that he's worried she's been cooped up too long in her apartment, and he wants to get her out and making more friends."

"And you believe that this can be done safely?" The King inquired as he rested his hands on the armrests of his chair.

"Yes, sir. We have started renting out the banquet hall, and with the help of the other Crownsguards, who also help train the Night, we are able to easily turn it into a full on training room."

"Is there anything that should be-"

"Your Majesty," Ignis' uncle interrupted as he opened the door to the study.

Narrowing his eyes, King Regis sat up in his chair and referenced the butler inside. "What is it, Marcus?"

"Captain Drautos is here to see you, sir, and he says it's rather urgent."

Regis took in a deep breath, and let it out in a long sigh. "I'm sorry, Gladiolus, but we'll have to end this briefing and pick it back up next time. Please make sure to take extra notes from now on."

Understanding what he meant, Gladio stood, bowed to the King, and marched out of the room, passing Drautos on his way out.

The Captain of the Kingsglaive studied the sworn sword as they passed each other, and focused on King Regis once the door was closed and they were alone. "What was that all about?"

"Nothing," King Regis deflected. "You said you have urgent news?"

Eyebrow raised in curiosity, Captain Drautos did the traditional Lucian bow and went to stand right in front of the King's desk, and attempted to let his curiosity go. His eyes skimmed the desk and he saw the stack of papers strewn about. "Yes, sir. We have reports that Niflheim is in a bit of a mess. It seems that the Lady Lunafreya has gone missing, but they aren't letting anyone but their higher ups know."

It was Regis' turn to be confused. "Where have you received this information?"

"The man our spy was conversing with has gone under house arrest."

Ravus, Regis thought as his eyes fell to his desk. Noticing the reports from Noctis' and Luna's secret guards, he straightened them up and quickly deposited them into a locked drawer to his right. He was gonna have to start his act sooner than he had hoped. He wasn't looking forward to it.

Standing, he soon rested his hands on the hardwood of his desk before fixing his gaze on Drautos. "I want a full report from all of the Glaives involved immediately. I want to know where Lady Lunafreya is as soon as possible. If Niflheim won't tell anyone about this, I don't want this getting out to anyone either, but we need to secure her safety."

"Yes, your Majesty," Drautos agreed as he bowed to the King. "Is there anything else?"

Regis shook his head. "No, Captain Drautos. You may take your leave."

Bowing again, Drautos turned and left the room.

He had been able to catch a small glimpse of the reports that were on King Regis' desk, and saw where he had put them. He had caught the word 'Eclipse', and for some reason, that intrigued Drautos, especially considering it was all hand written.

The Captain knew something was up, and he needed to find out.

* * *

 

Buses and cars whizzed by them as they walked down the street, only a few blocks from their school.

How Prompto was able to talk Irene into just meeting the three of them at the arcade instead of driving them home, Noctis didn't know, but he was glad for it. He could tell that Luna was getting tired of staying inside the apartment and only going to school. If anyone was watching them, it'd look suspicious if she never went anywhere.

During lunch that day they had all been talking and Prompto invited Luna to go to the arcade with them. When Luna said she had never played any video games, Prompto knew he had to make it happen, and while Noctis talked to Ignis about them going and not needing a ride, Prompto got on the phone with Irene.

Irene had been fully against it, but with his charms, and with promising her that she could come too, Irene reluctantly agreed. Noctis could tell she cared for Luna, and that that was probably why she was being a little lenient.

"While we're out," Prompto began as they walked down the sidewalk towards the arcade. "You have to try some street food! Insomnia street food is made up of so many different cuisines all in one, it's insane!"

On his right, Luna gave him a smile in agreement as she adjusted her grip on her school bag in front of her. "That sounds wonderful. I am rather peckish. Noctis…" She turned to the Prince to her right, watching for a second as someone ran by them on the sidewalk. "Are you hungry for a snack as well?"

"Sure," he replied. "There's a place right next door to the arcade. We can go there after, if you'd like."

She nodded her head, smiling at him in happiness, and the three of them continued down the street towards the arcade. They made it there in record time, and Prompto immediately started pulling Luna towards his favorite game. Noctis followed them, and the royalty watched as Prompto got sucked into his game, none of them really noticing as Irene walked into the arcade. She was close enough to watch everything, but far enough away that it wouldn't seem weird.

Every now and then Prompto would look at Luna as he played, attempting to show her a thing or two, but after a while he was too into it and left the other two alone.

After ten minutes, Noctis noticed that Luna had yet to touch anything, even though he had a prepaid card filled with money for whatever game they decided to play. Him and Prompto frequented this place so he kept it full just in case.

She was a few feet from Prompto, eyeing an older looking game, her face pensive. Making his way over to her, he politely moved beside her, and let her watch him in confusion as he swiped the prepaid card into the slot.

"You wanna play, right?" Noctis asked her as he pointed to the waiting screen.

Luna blushed at having gotten caught, and nodded her head. "I do… but I'm afraid I don't even know how to play."

Motioning for her to step up to it, Noct got right behind her and took in a deep breath. He mustered up all the courage he could and took her hands in his.

It was a simple game, one where you were a spaceship that shot at other spaceships above. In order to win you had blow up all of the ships and then the "master" ship. There was a movable stick with two buttons to the side. He moved both of their hands, the left on the stick and the right on top of the buttons, and the warmth of her body near his made him feel light.

Pressing the "shoot" button to start the game, he walked her through it, using his hands on top of hers to show her how to do it. As she steadily got used to it and began to feel more confident, he removed his hands, but didn't step back from her.

The skin of her hands was so soft, and she smelled so wonderful. It was a light scent, but Noctis could smell it forever, and a tiny voice in his head said that he could if he'd stop being such an idiot.

When the last of the mini ships were destroyed, Luna looked back at him. Her smile was so big, and Noctis knew in that moment he was done for.

Resting his left hand on her shoulder, he squeezed it and quietly said, "I'm proud of you. Now you just have to defeat the big ship."

Luna nodded adorably and turned back to the game. It was much more difficult than the other ships, but after a few minutes and some near misses, she was jumping for joy and clapping her hands as the game announced her the winner.

Before Noctis could even congratulate her, she was turning one eighty degrees and latching onto him in a hug.

"Thank you so much, Noctis," she breathed. "I couldn't have done it without you."

His eyes widened for a second before softening. Wrapping his arms around her, his chin rested against the top of her head. "Y-Yeah, you're welcome."

"Hey guys!"

Noctis loosened his arms and Luna left his embrace as they both turned to look at Prompto.

The blond was giving them a smirk as he sauntered on over to them. "You guys ready to eat? I'm starving."

Seeming unsure, Luna glanced at Noctis before going back to Prompto. "But we just got here…"

"We can come back! I just think that if I don't eat something soon, I might eat one of you."

Noctis playfully rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Let's go next door."

Prompto made a fist bump in the air and started going next door while Luna and Noctis lagged behind.

Hesitantly meeting her gaze, Noctis smiled shyly and gently took her right hand in his left, making sure to go the extra step and lace their fingers together. "Ready?" He asked.

Luna returned his smile in earnest and lightly squeezed his hand. "Gladly."

As they left the arcade and walked the very short distance to the eatery next door, Irene following a few feet behind, none of them seemed to notice the undercover Galahdian on the other side of the busy street. Blue, steely eyes were trained on their position inside the eatery as he fake read a newspaper near a kiosk stand.

He had been following them since day one, watching and studying as they got increasingly closer. At first he thought it was simply because they had known each other years before, but now, seeing them hold hands and smile and laugh like it was getting intimate, it was almost as if they were dating, or on the cusp of it.

Sighing, Nyx Ulric pushed his sunglasses further up his nose and pressed a button on his hidden earpiece with his left index finger. When the secure line beep went through, he heard Libertus on the other side.

"Anything new?"

Nyx kept his eyes on the royals as he answered, "Nothing too new, but there may be a new complication."

"So it's not new, but it's a complication."

"A small one that could be more, yeah."

"I guess you'll have to take it up to the boss."

"Yeah, I guess so," Nyx sighed again. "Wanna trade locations so I can go speak to him?"

"You still at the newspaper stand?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, I guess. Be there in a minute."

"Copy that."

Releasing the button on his ear piece, Nyx folded the newspaper up and put it back onto the kiosk stand. Just like Libertus had said, a minute later they were switching positions without even greeting each other, and Nyx got into his car and drove to the Citadel. When he made it there, he showed the front guard his key card since he wasn't in his Kingsglaive uniform and was allowed inside. He pulled right up to the door and let the valet take over.

Nyx didn't get much farther than the driveway because Drautos was exiting the grand entrance and looking him up and down in confusion.

"Where the hell have you been?" Captain Drautos demanded as he waited for Nyx to come up the steps. "I haven't seen you at command in weeks."

Holding back the contempt expression that dared to grace his features, Nyx saluted his commander. When he reached the top of the stairs, he said simply, "I've been on assignment."

Drautos narrowed his eyes. "I haven't assigned you to anything."

"It's nothing major," Nyx tried to deflect. "I just have to write up reports over the security on the wall."

"Then why aren't you in your Kingsglaive garments?"

"I'm off duty."

"And yet you're here at the Citadel in common clothes?" Drautos interrogated as he looked Nyx up and down.

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Nyx stared his captain down, refusing to give in. "I got called in. Can I please go now? I have to give my report in a few minutes."

"With who?"

"Captain Drautos!"

Nyx and Drautos turned and saw King Regis exiting the grand entrance of the Citadel, with his Marcus and Cor not far behind. Both Kingsglaive immediately bowed to their King, and it wasn't until Regis waved it away that they relaxed.

"Your majesty, I was just talking to Ulric about-"

"-It's quite all right," King Regis intercepted as he hobbled his way over to the two. "I was actually hoping to talk to this fine gentleman about his report on the security of the wall. I became worried after there were reports of nearby Niflheim troops in Hammerhead a few weeks ago, so I had him go out and see for himself."

The confusion and suspicion on Drautos' face only caused Regis to secure his own. This morning during his visit and with this, he knew the captain may become a problem.

After a few seconds, Drautos averted his gaze.

"I guess if everything is fine here," the Captain muttered. "Then I'll just be on my way."

"I'll be looking forward to your next report, Captain Drautos," Regis said in farewell.

Once the Captain was gone and going towards his own personal car, and it was just Nyx, Regis, Cor, and Marcus, Nyx walked a few steps closer to the King and bowed his head.

"Your Majesty, I have some news I'd like to discuss."

Regis didn't his eyes remove his eyes from Drautos' person until he was inside his vehicle. "Is it anything we should worry about?"

"That depends," Nyx stated. "Long story short, the Eclipse and the Night are becoming affectionate."

"Affectionate how?"

"They were holding hands, sir. I believe they may start dating soon."

"And what makes you think that?" Cor intercepted as he stepped forward.

Nyx looked at the Immortal and bowed his head in respect. Returning his gaze to the King, he answered, "It's clear as day, sir. The Foster sees it too, she told me the other day, but I believe she has begun to deeply care for the Eclipse, whether she admits it or not, therefore not adding it into her report."

Cor and Regis knew he had been talking about Irene since he used her code name, and it just reminded Regis why he chose her to foster and protect Lunafreya in the first place.

Both Irene and himself were parents, although Irene had sadly lost her only child and husband to disease a few years ago. He had chosen her because he knew that she'd look after Lunafreya like no one else, that's she'd care for Lunafreya like no one else. It appeared she also had the same feelings concerning Noctis and Lunafreya dating as he did, although Regis was a little more skeptical considering the age difference.

Clearing his throat, King Regis gave Nyx a curt nod and thanked him for his report. The Kingsglaive bowed and went on his way.

"Are you gonna try and put a stop it?"

Regis turned to Cor, and the Crownsguard could see the conflict on his face. "I don't know," the King sighed. "I haven't decided yet."

The King and the Immortal began to make their way inside with Marcus right on their heels.

A few blocks away in his car, Drautos was in the backseat as one of his personal assistants drove.

"Cyma?"

The female assistant continued to drive, but watched him from the rear view mirror. "Yes, Sir?"

"Take me to the sanctuary. I must speak with the Chancellor."

"Yes, Sir. Rerouting now."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY so the reason why this took forever is because I bought Horizon Zero Dawn and have been playing it nonstop. That and the ending to this changed from how I had originally planned it, but we’ll see.

It was the first day of the weekend, and Luna was on cloud nine. It had been two full days since Noctis, Luna, and Prompto had been at the arcade, and it had been two days of the royals being timid but affectionate.

Whenever they had gone to the eatery next door to the arcade, they had sat beside each other and let their legs touch since they couldn't continue to hold hands while they were eating. Prompto gave the appearance of knowing that something had evolved between them after having witnessed their hug, but he kept his mouth shut, although that didn't stop him from sending teasing looks Noctis’ way. 

For safety’s sake after they were done eating, Irene went ahead and grabbed the trio's attention so she could take Luna home. It made Prompto pout because he had been fully meaning to have them go back to the arcade, but both guys knew they had pushed the boundaries of her security. It didn't take long for Noctis to get Ignis to their location after Luna and Irene left, and it had taken a little while to take both Prompto and Noctis home considering the traffic. 

During school the next two days, Noctis and Luna shyly flirted and touched. 

Lunch had been mostly light hand holding, while after school studying was more flirtatious in speech. Every time Noctis did it, he'd blush profusely, but Luna would make a quiet comment about how she found it cute and endearing. 

Last night during their studying session with Prompto, she had asked him if he wanted to come over for breakfast in the morning. Prompto joked about how it'd be interesting to see Noctis attempt to get up before 12pm on a weekend, which earned him an elbow in the side. The Prince had shot him a dirty look, but told Luna with a soft smile that he'd try to be there on time. 

Thirteen hours later, and at 9am in the morning, Noctis was standing outside of Luna’s apartment door, feeling sluggish and exhausted, but excited all the same. 

He hadn't knocked on the door yet, mostly because he was gaining the courage and stamina. Even though he had gotten to sleep early that night, he was still tired as hell. He had had Prompto call him at 8:30am just to make sure he was actually awake, and after the third time of his friend calling, he finally heard it. Other than the teasing about this being their first date, Prompto got off pretty quickly and let Noctis get ready. 

Just as he was about to knock on the door, Irene was opening it with Umbra right beside her. 

“Prince Noctis,” Irene greeted in mild surprise. 

Noct gave her a small wave of his hand small wave. “Good morning, Ms. Irene.”

“So you're why Luna has been cooking for the past five minutes.”

“Y-Yeah,” he answered with a tint of red on his cheeks. 

Irene gave him a wry smirk and a wink, and ushered Umbra out of the apartment with her not far behind. The dog licked at Noctis’ hands when he passed before trotting towards the elevator door, patiently waiting for the retired Kingsglaive. 

“I was just taking Umbra out to use the bathroom,” she explained. Giving Noctis a light, yet stern look of warning, she allowed him inside. “I'll be back in a few minutes.”

Noctis nodded in understanding and walked into the apartment, making sure to shut it behind him. The hint of embarrassment in his gut dissipated when he saw Luna in the kitchen facing away from him, and he made his way over to her. “You didn't tell Irene I was coming over?” 

“Oh!” Luna whipped around and put a hand to her heart when she saw him. “Noctis! You scared me.”

Chuckling, Noctis sat down at one of the bar stools and made himself comfortable. “Sorry. You said nine, right?”

“Yes, I did. …I'm actually nowhere near done, I'm afraid.”

The thought that crossed her mind was mirrored on her face a second later and it made Noctis anxious. If it hadn't been for her sweet smile and the fluttering of her eyelashes, Noctis could've said no, but he was in deep with barely a toe in the water. 

“You know…” she mused. “You could help me.”

“Do I have to?” Noct joked with a quirk of an eyebrow. 

“If you want to eat, then yes.”

Noctis gave her groan in reply, but snickered when she slapped his shoulder with a spatula. 

As he settled in to help her, he became a little more relaxed. It was only when they were inching closer to crossing certain boundaries that he became super shy and easily embarrassed, or whenever someone else was around. When it was just them hanging out, he felt at home. 

She showed him how to cut up some veggies for her omelet, and giggled at the faces he was making as he did so. Irene came in just as he was finishing cutting up some peppers, but she went with Umbra into her room. She kept the door open in case she needed to hear anything, and also to let Noctis know she'd hear everything. After he had cut them up rather nicely, Luna had him take over making his scrambled bird beast eggs while she rummaged around her fridge for some fruit. 

It took over twenty minutes to get their entire breakfast done, mostly because of the few instances where they'd “accidentally” bump into each other, or a little bit of flirtatious talk. 

By the time they were sitting down to eat at her dining room table, Noctis was glancing in the direction of Irene’s room. 

“Is Ms. Irene not gonna eat?”

Luna was unfolding her napkin and placing it on her lap when she answered, “She already ate earlier. She gets up around five every morning. Plus I think she was wanting to give us some time to ourselves as best as she can give.”

“R-Right.” 

A hint of red appeared on his cheeks at the thought of being truly alone with Luna, and Noctis decided as he was eating his breakfast sausage that he was gonna make it his mission to stop blushing. It was starting to get really embarrassing. 

They ate while they talked, and there were numerous times that the both of them would laugh so hard they couldn't breathe.

Now that Luna had been in school for a little while, she was able to get into all of the gossip. It was mostly Prompto she gossiped with, but Noctis was willing to listen to whatever. 

She had gotten more relaxed in her role as Diana as time went on. Noct still hated her hair and her colored contacts, and she still looked weirdly tan to him, although if anything she was only a shade darker, but Luna seemed more comfortable with it all. Irene had been teaching her how to apply her makeup, and she had been doing it all by herself the past few days. She had started talking to a few other people at school and had made one or two friends, but only really hung out with Prompto and Noctis. 

They were the trio Noctis had secretly always wanted. 

Finishing up their breakfast, they soon rinsed off their plates and the cooking utensils and put them in the dishwasher, neither of them hearing Irene's phone go off in the other room. 

They awkwardly stood by her opened front door a few moments later, and the tension in the room was palpable as they grew silent. 

Luna was watching with tender eyes and with her hands clasped in front of her while Noctis bravely attempted to meet her gaze and hold it. 

“I had fun,” Luna affirmed with a smile. “I'm glad we did this. We should do it more often.”

Nodding, Noctis shoved his hands into his pockets. “Yeah, me too.”

It grew quiet again, and before Noctis could freak himself out, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. It was a light peck, but it was enough to make them both blush. 

“I'll talk to you later,” he murmured as he returned to his own personal space. 

Luna’s smile grew beautifully, and it made his heart rate quicken. “I'll see you later,” she repeated. 

He gave her a nod, and as he was walking back towards his apartment-hearing her shut her door behind him-he couldn't hold back the ecstatic smile that was forcing its way onto his face. 

It didn't last long, however, because before he could even get to his door he heard Irene calling his name. Turning around, he saw the expression of remorse on her face and the happiness in his gut fell away. 

“Prince Noctis.”

“You can call me Noctis,” he consented. “You know that, Ms. Irene.”

The older woman’s solemn expression became more pronounced, and she sighed before squaring her gaze at him. “I received a call from the King.”

Noctis’ own eyes narrowed in chagrin. He had a feeling he knew what she was gonna say. “About what?”

“Apparently one of your hidden guards saw you two together, and could tell that you guys were getting close. They reported it to the King and now…”

Her hesitation annoyed him. “And now, what?”

“And now he has forbidden you two from seeing each other.”

“Wait,” Noctis scoffed. “We're not allowed to see each other?”

Irene nodded, and the strength she exhibited in her body as she stood against him fought against the disappointment on her face. It was clear to him that Irene didn't like this either. 

“In what capacity?” He asked. 

“You two aren't allowed to date.”

Gritting his teeth, he clenched his fists. “Did he say why? Did you tell Luna?”

“Noctis, you can't get mad that he's doing it for your safety. For  _ her  _ safety.” She sighed. “I haven't told her yet, but I think it'd be better coming from you.”

Noct didn't say anything else. He had been glaring at the floor when she spoke, unmoving, and he resisted against the wish to confront his father. 

Noctis gave her a nod and entered his apartment without a word. 

 

* * *

“Wait a minute. So you two aren't allowed to date. Like at all. Like not even in secret?”

Rolling his eyes, Noctis muttered a harsh “yes” as he attacked Gladio with his Engine Blade, only to have it blocked. He growled in frustration and attacked again, and Gladio easily blocked it for a second time. 

"But you guys have been doing so well! I've seen the way you two look at each other--”

“--Yeah, and apparently everyone else has too,” Noctis interjected loudly. 

From where Prompto sat against the wall in the banquet room, he could tell that Noctis was very frustrated. 

The Prince had been battling his sworn sword for a good half hour, never stopping, never giving up. As soon as they had walked in, Noct didn't stretch, he merely asked Gladio if he was ready to go and started attacking. He was in full assault mode. If he wasn't attacking, he was moving and planning his next strike. 

A part of Prompto wondered if he'd slip up and lose his focus, but Noctis’ agitation and aggression was so centralized in winning against Gladio that the fact he still wasn't was infuriating him. Prompto could see the increasing strain of his emotions clear on his face. 

“Why don't we have ourselves a break,” Ignis suggested, holding his hand to his mouth as he boasted his voice across the gigantic room.

Gladio blocked Noctis’ sword, pushing back against him and forcing the teenager several feet away. After making sure that Noctis was okay and on his feet, he dropped his weapon to the ground and put his hands up in surrender. “I agree with Ignis,” he voiced. “We should take a break. You’ve been going for too long.”

“No! I can still fight,” Noctis argued as he widened the stance of his feet and readied his weapon. 

“But you shouldn’t. If this hasn’t worked out your aggression, nothing will.”

Ignis’ voice of reason had Noctis grimacing and lowering his face. He took in several deep breaths, trying to calm his heart rate, and slowly dropped his weapon to the floor. After a few moments of attempting to relax, he stiffly walked over to Prompto and Ignis, and plopped down in between them. Gladio strolled over to them and joined them on the floor, the four of them making an unintentional circle against the wall.

“So what exactly has you so angry? The fact that you can’t date her, or that you had finally just maned up?”

Glaring at Gladio, the Prince dropped his shoulders and laid his head back against the wall. “Both, I guess.”

“You guys had just started holding hands too,” pouted Prompto to his right. 

“I think the King’s right,” Gladio admitted as he laid his hands on the wood behind him, leaning back with his legs out in front of him. 

“What?” Both Prompto and Noctis snapped, although Prompto’s was a little more of a shriek.

“How can you say that?” Prompto continued. “Don’t you want them to be happy?”

Sending the young blond boy a look of contrition, Gladio elaborated, “Them dating and being open about it would put her in danger. The Nifs are bound to already be watching him considering they know they were close before, and regardless of the fact that she’s undercover, I’m sure they’d be even more interested in her than they already are if they were dating.”

Noctis was staring at the floor, unblinking as he took in his friend’s words. His arms were crossed across his chest, and after several quiet moments between all four of them, he turned to Ignis. “What do you think? You’ve been awfully quiet on the subject.”

Ignis took a second to bring his thoughts together, and sighed in resignation when he came up empty. “I agree with Gladiolus in that it’d put her danger,” he started as he pushed his glasses up his nose. Returning Noctis’ gaze once he was done, he continued. “I don’t want the Lady to be in more danger than she already is, but… but I also want the two of you to be happy. It’s easy to see that the Lady is not as nearly as depressed as she was when she first arrived, and neither are you, Noct. If there was any kind of confirmation that her being in Insomnia was safer than we’re afraid to admit that she isn’t, then I’d be completely for it. Unfortunately, we’re stuck in this situation, and the Lady’s safety is the utmost priority.”

“Well I still think he should go for it!”

“Prompto, come on--”

“No, Gladio,” Prompto argued. “Niflheim could appear at any time. They’re looking for her right now, no matter if they’re dating or not. She is in danger no matter what happens, and I think they both deserve to be happy as much as they can. It’s not their fault that life is being super shitty right now.”

The conversation seemed to die at that point, with all eyes on Noctis as he kept his thoughts to himself. He had gone back to staring at the floor, with pieces of his hair still sticking to his sweaty face. 

A minute or two passed, and the door to the banquet hall opened. The woman they had all been talking about entered, making sure to shut the door quietly behind her, before marching straight to them. 

Her hair was a freshly dyed shade of brown, with some light blonde highlights on the ends. It also looked like she had gotten a trim, with both sides of her head looking like they had been buzzed short, while the rest of her hair right on top was tastefully cut to reach just above her cheekbones. It framed her face pretty nicely with the strands parted towards the right side of her face. She was breathtaking, even if she didn’t look like herself. 

Ignis bowed his head to her in respect when she reached them. “My lady, how was the trip to the salon?”

“It was delightful, Ignis. How is the training session going?”

Noctis refused to meet her gaze, earning a perplexed expression in return as she sat down with them. 

“We’re taking a break right now, but we’ll probably get started again soon. It’s Prompto’s turn anyway,” answered Gladio.

Luna took in a deep breath and picked a piece of lint off of her jeans. She wasn’t used to the fabric, and they felt horribly constrictive. “That’s actually something I wanted to discuss…” Everyone’s attention was on her, but Luna only had eyes for Gladio. “If it’s alright with you…. I would like to start training as well. Back home in Tenebrae, in an effort to be proactive against any possible abuse, Ravus and Gentiana showed me a few moves. I want to start improving upon them, and to also learn more. If you guys are going to put your lives on the line for me, I don’t want to be some damsel in distress who can’t even protect herself.”

Gladio's mouth opened and closed, very similar to a fish, as he tried to comprehend what she said. “Wait… you, uh, you want to train?”

“Yes,” she confirmed. “I want to fight when the time comes. I'm tired of being a victim, and acting like one. Just because I have to be in hiding, doesn't mean I can't know how to protect myself.”

“Lady Lunafreya, I don't know--”

“Please, Gladiolus. Call me Luna. You don't have to fight me personally if you don't want to, you can train me through Noctis and Prompto, I just please ask that you do.”

The sworn sword looked pensive as he weighed the options, and the magnitude of what she asked of him. If she were to get hurt, it'd be on him. 

Glancing at Ignis, and seeing the apprehensive approval on his face, Gladio succumbed. “Fine, but you're gonna train with Prompto first. He's the weakest, and I don't want you getting hurt.”

Luna smiled as she jumped up and made her way over to one of the weapons, not even caring that the boys were watching her intently. She grabbed for a lance, felt the balance in it, before turning and asking, “Well, let's get started.”

Sharing a look of bewildered disbelief with the other guys, Gladio turned back to her and warned, “I think we should start with something a little less deadly, ad get you in some practice gear…” Standing, he made his way over to the training pads case, handed her some, and then went to the weapons case and found a wooden sword. He pointed to the still sitting Prompto with the wooden blade. “Get up. The lady--Luna, would like to start her training.”

Prompto’s eyes went wide, and he spared a glance to Noctis. “I-I don’t want to.”

A pout graced Luna’s face as she put on the pads, and before Prompto could even think about giving in, Noctis stood in his stead. “I’ll do it.”

“You will?” Nearly everyone voiced in shock. 

Shrugging his shoulders, Noct traded out his Engine Blade for Gladio’s still outstretched wooden sword, and swung it around in a circle. “Prompto doesn’t want to do it, and I’ll make sure Luna doesn’t get hurt. She came to me first about wanting to be trained anyway.”

“Are you okay with this?” Gladio asked Luna.

“I don’t see why not. I trust him.”

“Well all right…” the sworn sword sighed. Waving to the two of them and making sure they were far enough away from the still seated Prompto and Ignis, Gladio clapped his hands together. “Let’s get started.”

The next ten minutes were mostly Gladio showing Luna how to block simple attacks. Noctis would move forward, strike downward towards her, and she would raise her wooden blade and block it, making sure to mirror his strength as best he could. He would then go for the side, or try to fake her out, constantly moving as slow as needed, and Luna would block them all with Gladio’s guiding.

When it was clear that she understood the simplistics of it, they moved on to her attacking. Once again, they moved slowly and Gladio pointed out Noctis’ openings and weaknesses, using it as a moment to showcase them to Noctis as well. Luna caught on pretty quickly, impressing everyone. After a few more well placed attacks and blocks, Gladio decided for them to move on to an unguided fight. 

“Don’t worry,” he said. “Noctis will go easy on you. Right, Noct?”

Noctis gave her a nod, and met her gaze. “Yeah. Don’t be afraid to hit full on; I’m used to it from training with Gladio.”

Returning his nod, Luna gave him a smirk. “Got it.”

It began when Gladio moved back a few feet, not wanting to be too far away in case anything happened. The two love birds danced around each other for a few paces, and when it became apparent that Luna was waiting on Noctis, he went in for a straightforward strike. What came next was shocking, causing all of the guys’ mouths to drop open.

As soon as Noctis’ blade came down, Luna evaded him and returned the strike to his ribcage. Had they had actual swords, the tip of her blade would’ve hit him right in between the ribs. 

Hearing Gladio whisper, “Oh shit,” Luna’s smirk grew. 

“I told you they taught me a few things,” she explained.

Playfully narrowing his eyes, and feeling better for the first time since his talk with Irene that morning, Noctis returned her smirk and deepened his stance. “I won’t hold back on you then. 50% sound good?”

“50% sounds perfect,” she flirted back.

“Uh… guys…” 

Neither of the royals heard Gladio in that moment, both so focused on each other. It didn’t take long for the fighting to start again, and the sound of wood hitting each other echoed in the large room. 

The three amigos sat back and watched as Luna held her own, with barely any sweat to her brow. Whenever Noctis attacked, she either dodged it or blocked, and there were even a few moments when the block would end up in her retaliating. She got a few good licks to his side, having taken Gladio’s pointers on Noctis’ weak points to good use, and it seemed like Noctis’ 50% was an even match for her until he got her in a hold when he faked her out. Struggling against him for all of two seconds with his arm around her midsection, locking her arms in, she slammed her foot down on his toes, found the angle to elbow him in his stomach, and broke away when she was able. Noctis fell into himself, using the sword to keep up right, and long before he would even be able to continue, Luna brought her sword down against the back of his neck, stopping a few inches right above him. 

“I think it’s safe to say Luna won,” Gladio declared rather loudly.

Ignis clapped, and Prompto soon joined in as Luna raised the sword off of Noctis and relaxed. 

Straightening up, and ignoring the small pain in his gut, Noctis stared at Luna dumbly, completely in awe of her. 

He had only done 50% of himself, but this was still amazing.  _ She  _ was amazing and yet she was barely even trained. 

He, on the other hand, was kind of turned on. 

Noctis attempted to tamp it down, and after a couple of years of sexual fantasies about her he knew how to get rid of it when needed. 

“That was pretty awesome,” he said as he cleared his throat. 

“It was,” Gladio agreed. Walking up to them, he took the swords from them. “And I think it's safe to say that training for today is over. Especially you, Noct.”

Normally Noctis would've been offended at that, but he was still forcing away his arousal, and so far he was surprisingly losing. 

Telling Gladio he agreed with him, and then turning to Luna and telling her she could stay if she wanted, he started heading towards the door to the banquet hall. It didn't take long before he heard her light steps following him out of the banquet hall. 

“Are you okay?” She asked worriedly as she caught up to him. Putting her hand on his shoulder and arm, she brought him to a halt. “I didn't know I hit that hard…”

Noctis cleared his throat again in case his voice even dared to crack with everything else that was going on in him. His arousal was slowly going away. What little blood that had pooled into his lower anatomy ventured to other, more safe areas, but his heart was still pounding like crazy. He was sure his face had taken whatever blood that his dick had gotten, and it was thankfully less embarrassing. 

“I'm fine,” he finally got out when he cautiously met her concerned eyes. “If anything, I'm just more surprised than in pain, but Gladio's right. I was pushing myself pretty hard even before you got here.”

Luna seemed to accept that answer, but he could tell there was another bothered thought in her mind. It didn't take her long to voice it either. 

“Are you sure you're still okay though? After lunch when you saw me taking out Umbra, and even now, you've been acting rather strange and distant. Irene didn't say anything to you, did she?”

Noctis’ eyes flickered to her hands, which were still encompassing his upper arm and elbow. Returning his eyes back up to hers, he gulped. He didn't want to tell her, and yet… 

Taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes, Noctis willed himself to tell her, but he couldn't. 

“Do you want to have dinner tonight?” Noctis asked her with a nervous, yet tender smile. “It could be at my place. I could… I could cook something. Or I could have Ignis cook us something.” 

Eyes wide, and lips rapidly spreading into a smile, Luna nodded. “I would love to. What time would you like me to come over?”

“Seven sound good?”

“Seven sounds lovely.”

* * *

It was an hour till dinner, and Luna wasn't sure what she was doing. 

The way that Noctis asked her to dinner had sounded like a date, and she was almost sure that it was. She was almost certain that tonight would be the night the flirting would come to a head, that they'd slowly transform their relationship into something more. Ever since she had come to Insomnia, which was now two months ago and nearly over a month since Noctis had known she was here, she had hoped this would happen. She had hoped for him. 

Letting her fingers run through her hair as she attempted to style it, Luna watched herself in the mirror and contemplated if she should do anything else with it. 

“You look nice.”

Luna's gaze moved a few inches and saw Irene standing against the doorway through the window. Sending her a smile, her hands moved down to smoothe out her sky blue dress. “Thank you. Noctis invited me to dinner tonight so I wanted to dress up.”

“Has he talked to you yet?”

Luna turned to Irene and raised an eyebrow. “...I'm guessing not if you're asking me this question.”

Sighing, Irene raised sad eyes her way. 

* * *

She was late. 

Luna was supposed to be here thirty minutes ago, and she wasn't here. It was Luna of all people, there was no way she would be late. 

Staring at the food Ignis had prepared and brought over an hour ago, Noctis grimaced at the anxiety in his gut and looked away from it. 

Standing, and making the chair make a loud noise as it skidded across the floor a few inches, he stood from his dining room table and walked to his front door. His dress shirt felt constrictive, and his dark wash jeans felt no different as he opened the door and walked out. He made it to Luna's door in record time and knocked, trying to hold back his anxiety. 

It only evolved when Irene answered the door. 

“Noctis.”

“You told her, didn't you?” Noctis tried to hold back the urgency in his voice and failed. “Why did you tell her!?”

Irene put her hands on her hips and straightened her back. “She had a right to know, and when it became clear you weren't gonna tell her since you asked her on a date, it became my job to do so!”

“I don't want to talk to you. I want to talk to Luna.”

“You don't get everything you want, Prince Noctis. She needs to be protected, and right now it's clear to me you don't care about her safety.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Noctis countered. “If I didn't care about her safety I wouldn't be training three times a week to become a better fighter. I don't just care about her safety, I also care about  _ her  _ too. She can't be stuck in this apartment, not having a life.”

“But at least she'll have one--”

“That's enough.”

Irene turned around and Noctis looked beyond her to see Luna dressed in her comfy pajamas coming out of her room, a timid Umbra behind her legs. 

“Luna,” Noctis breathed. 

“Irene,” she whispered while sending her guard a look. “Let me speak to him alone.”

The retired Kingsglaive stood still for a second, as if debating it, before walking deeper into the apartment. Luna took her place at the door, and Noctis felt his anxiety grow. 

“Noctis.”

“Can we talk in the hallway, please.”

Her blue eyes studied him, a sheen of melancholy brightening them in a way he didn't like, almost as if she wanted to cry. She exited the apartment and closed the door behind her, but didn't dare move any closer to him. It made him antsy, but he didn't dare invade her space. 

“Luna…”

“Why did you tell me that we weren't allowed to date?” She whispered, her hands behind her back and resting against the door. Noctis noticed their positions were just like when he first found out she was in Insomnia, and he hated it. 

“I was going to… I just…” he ran a hand through his hair and stared at the floor. “I was afraid.”

Luna watched him from underneath her lashes. “Why were you afraid?”

He couldn't answer her immediately. This would be crossing one of those boundaries that made him nervous, and while he had planned on this dinner actually being a date, he had still planned on taking it slow. 

“I…” Noctis gulped, and willed the words to come. “I was afraid that if I told you…  _ this  _ would happen. You would stop… us… from happening because my father said for it to stop. Luna,” his eyes pleaded with her, and he could see that she was hurting just as much as he was. “I want to be with you. We're all training so we can protect you, my father has guards who watch us and would defend us, Irene lives with you… we-we could make this work if we just hid it. Please Luna.”

She sagged against the doors, eyes closed and body heavy, but it appeared that Luna's resolve was stronger than his confession. 

“I'm sorry, Noctis,” she apologized as she hesitantly met his gaze. “I want to be with you too, but the King--”

“--Screw my dad! He can't keep you locked in here. That's not protection, that's solitary confinement. He can't keep  _ us  _ away from each other.”

“Now Noctis, please. He's trying to keep me safe in the ways he only knows how, and I know you are too, but we need to do as he says. If he thinks that us being together would put me at harm then we need to do as he says.”

His brain was at war with his heart, and his mouth refused to reply in any way or form. He was still, not even looking at her, but his heart was falling to pieces. 

He had finally come to terms with what he wanted and confessed it to her, and yet nothing could be done. She felt the same, but she was still rejecting him. 

Feeling her kiss his cheek, Noctis blinked back the tears that threatened. She had barely returned to herself after kissing him when he turned and left, going straight back to his apartment without a word. 

* * *

“Have your lackies found anything interesting?”

The eccentric flare the Chancellor added to his voice made Drautos frown in distaste. “I believe so. He burns every handwritten report he gets, and someone new has moved in beside the Prince. We can't get any eyes or ears in there, but it's questionable as to why there's someone else worth keeping safe as much as the Prince.”

The air in Sanctuary was stagnant, and Drautos wished his communication to the Empire wasn't stuck in some run down apartment building on the outskirts of Central Insomnia, near the wall. 

“And do you believe it is the Oracle?”

“I do not know for sure,” Drautos admitted through his phone. “But it can't be coincidence that not too long after the Oracle goes missing, the Prince has a new friend at the same time he has a new neighbor. I believe we should send in live MTs during school hours to go in. I can get a keycard so it won't look broken into.”

“We can have them there by noon tomorrow. They'll be entering along with the representative for the Empire. He's supposed to be meeting the King two days from now, you know. What excellent timing. Do keep us updated, won't you?”

“Yes, Chancellor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time on Eclipse:
> 
> -a special guest finally makes an appearance  
> -the start of shit goes down  
> -Noctis gets annoying before he gets better


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: small mention of assault

 

He wasn't sure what day it was, let alone the actual date. He had been in solitary confinement for a month? Two months? His memory was failing him, and it didn't help that the only interactions he’d had was Ardyn, his personal Niflheim soldiers, and Gentiana, although he hadn't seen the messenger of Shiva in a long time. 

 

Darkness had become his friend most of the time, but he missed the light. He missed his sister. 

 

He had sent her away with the help of Gentiana, had made sure Pryna was with the messenger as well. Everything had gone according to plan, and this was his punishment. He was lucky he wasn't dead. 

 

Eyes accustomed to the blackness of his confinement, Ravus ran a hand through his lengthy silver hair, and grumbled at the disgusting texture. His last bath was so long ago, most likely a week, and he was sure his teeth were gonna start falling out since he couldn't even remember the last time he'd brushed them. The food they gave him probably wasn't helping as well. When did he last eat anyways?

 

“I’d thought you a sycophant.”

 

Jolting at the familiar voice, Ravus forced himself to calm down, to not react as the door to his cell opened. Light streamed into the small room, and soon a shadow he would recognize a mile away stood in the doorway. 

 

Ravus continued to stare at his hands, trying to ignore the man to his right if only out of pure spite. 

 

“Growing up in Niflheim, joining the imperial forces... You seemed so…dull, so mundane; your ill-crafted motives easily recognizable and manipulated.” The shadow leaned against the doorway, and the Tenebraean prince grit his teeth. “Then you go and help the Oracle escape,” the Chancellor chuckled. “It was a rather unforeseen action, and I'm proud of the fact you were able to actually get her out. I'd applaud you had you fully succeeded in granting her freedom.”

 

Ravus couldn't stop himself, and he scoffed with a slight roll of his eyes. “Had?”

 

“You see, you got her out and everything seemed oh so perfect, but alas, it will end up with Lady Lunafreya back within the care of the Empire. If I remember correctly, she was spotted in Insomnia as recently as yesterday, and given my appearance in the Lucian capital in twelve hours, I'll have some of the live MTs picking her up as I'm meeting with the King. The plan worked well… until now.”

 

Ravus’ eyes widened, his breath hitched in his throat. 

 

He had to be lying. Chancellor Izunia just had to be, but no one knew Luna was in Insomnia but those attached to the plan...

 

“But I wouldn't worry too much,” the Niflheim Chancellor continued. “You'll be able to see your darling sister one last time before she's on indefinite house arrest surrounded by nothing but Lives. You are coming to Insomnia with me, after all.”

 

He couldn't help himself, his head was turning and his eyes were straining against the pain of the  light as he attempted to make out Ardyn’s face. Mouth open in shock, he felt his chest going tight. 

 

Ardyn sounded like he was enjoying this. He stood in the doorway for a moment longer, with a smile most likely on his lips. “A few guards will be here as soon as I leave to get you looking and smelling presentable. We leave in two hours.Ta Ta for now, _ Lord Ravus _ .”

 

The light got ten times more powerful as the Chancellor turned and left his cell, his boots echoing in the long hall as Ravus hissed against the pain in his eyes from the sudden brightness. 

 

Just like Ardyn had said, three guards were entering his room and forcing him to his feet. He had only one thought in his mind as they dragged him to another room, and that was that he had to get in touch with Gentiana as soon as possible. 

 

* * *

 

The sound of Mr. Cassius’ voice meant nothing to her that morning, and she couldn’t pay attention no matter how hard she tried. 

 

Ever since she had started her first day of school Luna had been very adamant about being a good student, making sure to study as much as she could while also enjoying her time with Noctis and Prompto. Her lack of an education had motivated her to use the time she was spending in Insomnia to make up for the loss, and she was motivated. Usually. After last night though, she couldn’t focus in the slightest.

 

She couldn’t imagine telling anyone that she had spent the night crying. It was bad enough Irene had seen the start of her tears as she went straight to her room, and her use of Umbra as comfort hadn’t worked. Not only had she broken Noctis’ heart last night, but she had also broken her own. She wished to be with him just as much as she wished for her freedom, and now she had neither. Her fears and loneliness felt like they were ten times worse than they had been before, with no end in sight. 

 

Closing her eyes tightly as she desperately tried to hold back the tears threatening to fall, Luna shakily took in a breath, hoping that she wouldn’t bring attention to herself. When she could feel the stinging in her eyes starting to subside a few moments later, she opened them and her eyes drifted to the other side of the classroom, straight to Noctis’ empty seat. 

 

He had yet to come to school, and was two hours late.

 

She noticed Prompto in the seat right in front of Noctis’, checking his phone in a way Mr. Cassius wouldn’t see and obviously coming up empty given the perturbed look on his face. 

 

When lunchtime came thirty minutes later, Luna slowly stood from her desk and was quickly face-to-face with a worried Prompto. “Hello,” she greeted hesitantly, making sure to avoid his eyes.

 

“Do you know where Noct is?” The blond took no time cutting to the chase, and she could see he had been worrying his bottom lip with his teeth given the swollen redness. He was more concerned than he was letting on, that was for sure. “He’s never missed a day of school for as long as I’ve known him, and I know he was upset yesterday. Did something happen?”

 

She couldn’t meet his gaze, but she also couldn’t lie to him. Making sure they were alone in the classroom with a dart of her eyes, she muttered, “I turned him down last night.”

 

“You did what?” Prompto nearly shouted as he took a step back in shock, earning a frantic hush from her. His eyes searched her face to see if she was lying, and he instantly noticed the pink around her eyes that her makeup failed to hide. “Wait… So you really took the King’s side? You turned him down because he wanted it?”

 

Luna willed herself to not roll her eyes at Prompto. She was too tired for this, too hurt, and one conversation about it had been enough. “Prompto, he's doing what he thinks he needs to to keep me safe.”

 

“And you clearly agree with him,” Prompto argued sarcastically as he pointed at her eyes. “Come on, D, there has to be a way--”

 

“There isn't,” she retaliated loudly. Eyes downcast and hands squeezing her book bag in front of her, she knew she had shocked him, had given him a moment of doubt about herself because he was silent. Prompto was never silent, and it hadn't taken Luna long to realize that after they'd become friends. 

 

Moments passed, and before too long Prompto was circling his arms around her shoulders and pulling her close to him. It was Luna's turn to be shocked silent, and for the first time since knowing him she noticed that he was nearly a head taller than her. She could barely see anything above his shoulder. 

 

“I know you're hurting,” he whispered into her hair, and Luna felt tears pricking her eyes. “I know you are, and I know your safety is the most important thing, but you two are so lonely. I can see it when you guys are together… you two  _ should _ be together. 

 

“Noctis would do anything for you, and I would too--we all would. None of us would  _ ever  _ put you at risk, and if Noctis thinks there's a way to be together without risking your safety, then you two should try it. No one knows how long you guys have before things start going to shit. Eos could blow up tomorrow, no one knows. You guys should take advantage of the time you have together.”

 

Taking in a shaky breath, she forced her eyes closed, and felt all the fear and loneliness she had been attempting to hide begin to chip away. His embrace felt safe--not as much as Noctis’, but she could feel his conviction and care behind his words and touch, and it was almost as if this was exactly what she needed in that moment. 

 

Just for the sake of stubbornness, Luna countered, “What if--What if us trying is what leads them to us? What if--”

 

“You guys could only act lovey dovey at home, or at training. You could get a secure phone so you guys could text… Noctis will find a way, you just have to give him a chance--”

 

“What the  _ hell? _ ”

 

Luna and Prompto both quaked at the voice, and soon Prompto was two feet away from her, his hands in the air as if he was surrendering. 

 

The Crown Prince looked as if he had just been entering the classroom. His hair was messier than normal, and his clothes were askew; it almost looked as if he had been forced to come to school given his appearance. 

 

Prompto spoke first, although shakily. “Noct, I was just--”

 

“Save it!” Noct growled. His soft blue eyes were hardened, and they flew from his best friend to her, and Luna had never before been scared of Noctis, but she was close right now. 

 

Lifting her right hand as if hoping it'd somehow calm him down, she took a step forward, and his eyes zeroed in on her, a grimace on his face. “Noctis, whatever you think it is, it's not. He was simply comforting me--”

 

Noctis shook his head, and didn't say a word as he stormed off. 

 

While Luna felt frozen in place, wondering what the hell happened, Prompto ran after him. She could hear scuffling, and Noctis yelling something unintelligible followed by Prompto's  worried yelps. 

 

* * *

 

To say he was stressed was an understatement. 

 

He had woken up at the crack of dawn and gotten ready like usual, but the next several hours after he had left his apartment had been a vexatious and trying mess. Not even a few cups of Ebony had fixed the mounting exhaustion that permeated his entire being, and something told him that the stress was still just starting. 

 

When he had left his apartment that morning after working out and eating breakfast, he had driven to Noctis’ apartment, and waited for him outside the building just like he had done ever since he'd found out about Luna. Ignis didn't mind the extra step in his day, he used to pick up and drop off Noctis all the time, and it wasn't until somewhat recently that Noctis had started walking. 

 

Twenty minutes in the car with no sign of Noctis, and Ignis knew that the Prince had most definitely overslept. He had quickly moved the car to an actual parking spot, got out and made his way inside, and was within the elevator and on his way up to the apartment in a matter of minutes. When he knocked on the door and called out for Noct, there was silence, which wasn't all that surprising. It was when he had opened the door that the tension had started underneath his brow bone. 

 

Noctis’ apartment had been a complete and utter mess, and Noctis was knocked out on the couch. It was almost as if Noct had had a tantrum, throwing everything on the floor in a fit of rage. He was normally messy, and Ignis hadn't been able to clean it in a few days, but there was no way it had gotten  _ this  _ bad since then. 

 

It took Ignis a full hour to wake Noctis up, and then another to get him dressed and willing to go to school. 

 

Noctis hadn't said a word, he didn't help himself as Ignis forced him to dress, he didn't do… anything. It was like he was depressed, and unwilling to wake up. 

 

Ignis wasn't all too sure what caused it, but he had an idea. 

 

Two hours later, he hadn't strayed far from the school, and had instead gone to the restaurant a block away for lunch. Something told him that he shouldn't go back home, that Noctis may have him come back, and so far it hadn't happened. Thankfully. He still had to clean the Prince’s apartment after all.

 

At the moment he was halfway done with his plate of sushi, and was almost enjoying his fourth cup of Ebony; the almost being in due to the fact that the ball of stress at the base of his brain had yet to cease.

 

Just as Ignis had been about to take another bite of his sushi, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Taking in a long, deep breath, and wishing with every fiber of his being that it wasn’t who he thought it was, Ignis reached for his phone and slid it out of his pocket. He hit the home button, and low and behold, a text from Noctis flashed across the screen.

 

_ School. Now. _

 

“Damn it,” he cursed underneath his breath. 

 

Grabbing for his wallet this time, he found the correct amount of gil needed for his meal, and then some, and placed it at his table before standing and making his leave. A few steps to his car had him receiving another text, this time from Prompto. His brows furrowed at the blond’s message, something about Noctis being mad at him, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t really have time to fully read it as he got into the royal family’s car and began his trek back to the school. 

 

Noctis was waiting at the entrance to the courtyard, and when he slowed the car to stop in order to let him in, Ignis took the time to read the message from Prompto in its entirety. 

 

_ Noctis just ran out of the school! He’s mad! He saw Luna and me hugging and he freaked out! _

 

To all the Gods, Ignis hoped the blond was just being dramatic. It became very clear as Noctis roughly entered the car and plopped down into the seat that it sadly was not. 

 

The Prince stashed his backpack into the space at his feet, nearly slamming the car door as he did so, with a rough, “Go,” escaping his lips.

 

Ignis raised his eyebrow. “Go where? You’re supposed to be in school.”

 

“Go back to my apartment. Better yet, take me to the training room at the Citadel.”

 

Eyes slightly narrowed, Ignis made sure to keep his hand steady on the gear stick in case Noctis decided to go rogue and force them forward. Ignis wouldn’t put it past him considering the hard look on his face. Something was wrong, something that most likely didn’t deserve this kind of animosity given what Prompto had briefly explained.

 

Noctis’ eyes scrutinized his hand on the gear stick before glaring at him. “I told you to go,” he grit out as he gestured in front of them.

 

“Not until you tell me what happened.”

 

Groaning loudly, Noct crossed his arms and leaned back into his seat. “No.”

 

The last time he had seen him like this, Ignis thought, was when the Prince was nine. Nearly eight years had passed, and yet Noctis was acting the exact same. “This car will not move until you tell me what happened.”

 

“It's none of your business.”

 

“Maybe so, but I do believe we are friends and that as such, it is my job to make sure you are okay, when clearly you are not.”

 

Silence was his answer, earning an exhausted sigh from the older man as he took a moment to peer out into the busy city street. Everyone was going about their day, none of them aware of the turmoil happening within the car, let alone the national security interest that it most likely pertained to. 

 

“‘Diana’”, the Prince whispered after several long seconds of quiet stillness. He paused, as if her fake name was the entire reason behind his actions before he added, “…She turned me down last night.”

 

Slowly, Ignis returned his gaze to Noctis, who was still very clearly upset as he stared at his feet. He took a moment to collect his thoughts, trying to make out the best plan to maneuver around Noctis’ emotional open wounds, hoping that he’d be able to make it through this unscathed before he figured it all out. “You two didn’t end up having dinner?”

 

Noctis shook his head, still not bothering to look at Ignis as he spoke. “She said yes to dinner, and then Irene told her what my Dad said, and she ended up turning me down, saying we couldn't be together.”

 

“I see.” The silence returned, and with it, the understanding of the situation. “That was why you were so difficult this morning.” Noctis nodded. “And why you got mad when you saw Prompto with her.”

 

Whipping his face in his direction, Noctis gave Ignis a disapproving look.  “He texted you?”

 

“I'm glad he did, because now I know the issue.”

 

Noctis scoffed, offering a disbelieving chuckle in reply. “Oh really?

 

“You’re acting like a five year old, Noct. You’re not that hard to figure out. In fact, I’m rather disappointed in you.” 

 

Maneuvering around Noctis’ feelings be damned, he needed to grow up. At first Ignis had thought that maybe it was general heartache, which equaled the depression from the morning, but the amount of immature and irrational anger against Luna, and now Prompto that he was exhibiting was uncalled for. 

 

Shocked, Noctis looked like a fish out of water with his mouth opening and closing. “You--You--”

 

“Look,” Ignis sighed. “I understand your being upset over the fact that you can’t be with her, considering you just kind of figured out what you wanted with how you feel, but the anger and the immature tantrum… That’s uncalled for. Neither ‘Diana’ or Prompto deserve this--this animosity over what Prompto said was a simple hug. 

 

“She’s obviously mournful over the opportunity you two had, same as you, otherwise she wouldn’t have needed comforting. Prompto was being her friend, he was being there for her, more than you seem willing to be at the moment. Grow up, Noct, and go back to school.”

 

A full minute passed, and Noctis was still perfectly imitating an animal, although this time it was an animal caught in headlights. His steely blue eyes were wide, but he could see the cogs turning in his head as he tightened his lips together in thought. Another minute, and Noctis was slowly and quietly exiting the vehicle. Ignis watched him, making sure he actually entered the school, and staying there a little longer than necessary to be a hundred percent sure he wouldn’t still bail. When five minutes had come and gone, Ignis allowed himself to relax for the first time since he had entered Noctis’ apartment--

 

Ignis’ eyes widened in that moment, and he groaned as he let his head fall back against the car headrest. 

 

He still had Noctis’ apartment to clean. 

 

* * *

_ Gentiana. Gentiana. The blood of the Oracle calls upon you. _

 

Eyes closed, mouth shut, and ears focusing on nothing other than his heartbeat, Ravus willed the messenger of Shiva to come before him. 

 

He had been forced to bathe, although it was more of a rigorous scrubbing that ended up with him covered in scrapes and what was going to be bruises. His teeth had been brushed, with a decent amount of blood flowing from his lips as they unkindly did so. They had even forced him into his own clothing, and Ravus had never felt more embarrassed. Numerous times he had asked to do it all himself, but to no avail. It seemed that doing it all for him was another part of the punishment, as was the wounds he gained from it all. Nothing too harsh, but it was still enough that his weak body would be sore from it. 

 

They had given him a moment to relax, or to actually wait uncomfortably in his royal garbs as he sat on the floor waiting for Ardyn’s return. Once the Chancellor reappeared, him and his retinue, as well as Ravus and his guards, were to get on a ship and begin the trek to Insomnia. They were due in just over ten hours at the Lucian capital. He didn’t have much time left.

 

About ten minutes ago he had started his mindfulness, hoping to reach the messenger of Shiva without her actually appearing before him. He had two guards in the room, and the appearance of the messenger would make everything he had been working towards for two hours go south.

 

_ Gentiana. The blood of the Oracle  _ **_calls upon you_ ** _.  _

 

Brows furrowed as deeply as they could go in irritated concentration, Ravus took in a deep breath and tried again. When the sound of Gentiana’s voice entered his mind’s ear a second later, he could’ve yelled his triumph.

 

_ “The blood of the Oracle has called. Shall I come before him?” _

 

_ No! _ Ravus grit his teeth, hoping the guards didn’t notice the strain on his face.  _ I need you to send a warning to Lunafreya. The Empire knows she’s in Insomnia. King Regis needs to take every precaution for her safety. _

 

_ “I will warn the Oracle.”  _ She answered him. _ “May the blood be safe in the behemoth’s den.” _

 

The warning wasn’t lost on Ravus, and when he opened his eyes and saw the door opening with Ardyn leading his men, he knew he had to plan every movement from here on out as a strategic step in the fight for his sister’s safety.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Humiliation. That was his current emotion now that he was at home sitting on his couch, reflecting on the last several hours.

 

After Ignis had verbally slapped him, and shown him how much of an idiot he had been straight to his face, Noctis hadn’t been able to acknowledge either Prompto or Luna. He had gone to class, and sat behind his best friend, making sure to try and at least take notes on whatever subject Mr. Cassius had been teaching, but his eyes never met theirs, and he had nervously and embarrassingly ignored Prompto’s attempts at reconciliation. 

 

Ignis was right. He had been acting like he was a child. He had no excuse. 

 

“You’re a fucking idiot,” he stated to himself as he looked out into the city’s skyline. 

 

In his own stupidity and downright selfishness, he had failed to see that Luna was nursing a wounded heart as well. Hers was probably worse off, and Noctis felt like an ass for not seeing it. 

 

Had his father’s orders not been given, he was sure that Luna and him would've started along the tentative first steps of acknowledging their feelings. Of being together. She had told him herself that she'd welcome his confidence and affection if he could find it, and now that he had, they were basically forbidden from each other. 

 

Lifting a hand to where she had kissed his cheek last night, he reminded himself of the fear he had seen in her eyes when he stumbled upon her and Prompto. It was the exact same fear from when he had first found out she was here. 

 

Not only was she just as heartbroken as he, but she was scared for her freedom as well. 

 

Noctis sighed, and let the hand that still touched his cheek to run down it in dramatics. 

 

He had to apologize to her, there was no denying it. If he didn't do it now, he'd look like an even bigger ass than her already was. 

 

Grimacing a bit at the nerves in his gut, he forced himself to his feet and walked to his front door. Before his hand touched the doorknob, he caught sight of his reflection in the large mirror to his left. 

 

He was still in his wrinkly school clothes, and he looked like shit. Taking a moment to fix his appearance, Noct even took the time to put his hair into some semblance of control. Once he felt he was deemed worthy of appearing before Luna, he opened the door and ventured down to her own after closing his behind him.  

 

Knocking was the next step, and even though it felt like the hardest, he powered through. He had to act his age, he had to act mature. Luna deserved better than the way he was being right now. She deserved the best, she deserved an apology. 

 

Not too long after he knocked, Irene opened the door and gave him a criticizing glare. She knew what happened, and Noctis knew he deserved the scrutiny. 

 

“I’d like to see her, please,” he announced, while also attempting to sound like he wasn't scared of the retired Kingsglaive. In truth, he was. 

 

One of her eyebrows raised, and she crossed her arms. “Why should I let you?” 

 

He held back the smart ass comment he could feel bubbling in his throat, and instead stood his ground. “I want to apologize to her.”

 

Irene was quiet as she mulled over his answer, her face unreadable. She must've heard his sincere tone, for she opened the door wider and referenced inside with her hand. “She's outside on the balcony. I  _ suggest _ you be easy on her.”

 

Taking the suggestion as the warning it was, Noctis gave her a nod in answer and slipped inside. 

 

He moved quietly along the wood floors, peering around the corner as he reached the end of the main hallway. Irene was probably watching him closely, but he didn't care anymore. He had made it this far. His eyes caught sight of her on the balcony, all bundled up in a blanket as she sat in a ball on the rather large outdoor chair. She faced the waning sun, and she looked radiant with Umbra lying on the ground right next to her. 

 

Gulping at the sudden onslaught of butterflies in his stomach, he willed his feet forward, and he found himself sliding open the balcony doors. He looked at her in the corner of his eye, trying to be inconspicuous. 

 

When he had opened the door she had turned to see who was there, but seeing him must've been disappointing because she turned back to watching the sunset. 

 

He tried to not let it hurt him, reminding himself that this was for her. Moving so he could sit in the seat beside her, he watched the sun set with her, not knowing how to start. The sun was almost fully gone when she spoke. 

 

“I'm sorry for hurting you.”

 

Noctis’ eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “Wait-- _ you're  _ sorry?”

 

Luna turned her head and raised an eyebrow. “Is that a problem?”

 

“No! I mean--no, you don't have anything to apologize for.”

 

Her eyes narrowed a bit in confusion. “But I--”

 

Shaking his head, Noctis moved so he was on the edge of the seat. He almost grabbed for her closest hand from its place wrapped around her knees, but held himself back and instead cleared his throat. “Luna, this is my fault. It…. it hurt when you turned me down, it still does, but it's not right of me for treating you the way I have been.

 

“Getting mad at you and Prompto earlier? That was stupid, and selfish. It's selfish of me to ignore that you must be hurting too.” Noctis swallowed against the knot in his throat. “I want to be with you, Luna. It took me a while to figure that out, and then a bit longer to acknowledge it, but you,” his steely blue eyes turned and met hers, and he felt his confidence rise at the mild blush in her cheeks. “You are what's most important. Not only your safety, but your feelings, your smile.” 

 

He chuckled sadly, then. “I guess what I'm trying to say is, is that I… I really like you, and I wish we had the chance to explore it, and I'm sorry I was such an ass earlier. It's pretty obvious I have a lot of growing up to do.” His heart was pounding in his chest, but it almost felt like it was breaking all over again. The deeply held and hidden anxiety he felt was beginning to seep into his apology. “I'm also almost afraid that I'm not good enough for you.”

 

Luna unfurled her legs and sat forward, taking his hand which had been clenching his other in his lap. Her mouth opened, ready to assure him, but before she could the sound of Gentiana’s voice rang out. 

 

_ “The blood of the Oracle wishes to give a warning.” _

 

Eyebrows raised, Noctis looked at Luna and then above them, as if trying to find the voice. “Is that Gentiana?”

 

Luna shushed him and closed her eyes, failing to see the surprised expression on his face at her action. “Yes, Gentiana?”

 

The messenger of Shiva resumed, her voice feather like across the breeze. “ _ The blood of the Oracle wishes to give a warning. The behemoth knows of the Oracle’s hidden face. Where she resides. The father of the King of Light must take every precaution.” _

 

A shift in the air, just a bit on the cold side brushed through them, bringing the forgotten Umbra to his feet. He barked and whined, putting his muzzle on Luna’s lap, and receiving a pet around the ears in response. 

 

“I have to tell Irene,” Lunafreya declared as she got to her feet and opened the sliding door so she could go inside, her body suddenly feeling very constricted. “Gentiana wouldn't be warning us if it wasn't serious.  _ Ravus  _ wouldn't be having Gentiana warning us if I wasn't in danger.”

 

“But how can they possible know where you are?” Noctis argued as he followed her, with Umbra right behind him. “That doesn't make any sense.”

 

Irene saw them as they came in, quickly noticing the perturbed faces on both of them and she rose to her feet. “What'd he do?”

 

“Hey!”

 

“Ravus had Gentiana come to me,” Luna explained quickly. Moving forward, she almost began pacing in a circle, her fear and anxiety about to get the best of her due to the warning, making her unable to be still. She didn't see Irene straighten as she worried her hands, resisting the urge to grab at her throat. “She said they know I'm here, that the King has to take every precaution.”

 

The retired Kingsglaive seemed to revert back into active duty as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I'm gonna make a call.”

 

Both royals watched as Irene dialed, and then waited for someone on the other end to pick up. When they did, Noctis saw Luna worrying her bottom lip, and went to her side. His hand grasped hers, and he squeezed, trying to help her as he watched her fidget in place. 

 

Whatever Irene was discussing with the person on the other end, it sounded like military speech, and within a minute another man was entering the apartment, causing Irene to put her phone away. 

 

Noctis was about to ask him who he was, but Irene went to the man’s side, talking in hushed tones. He studied the man, saw the shaved sides of his head and the braids going down his back. Who the hell was this guy?

 

Moving closer to Luna, he frowned as the two Kingsglaive--he guessed the other guy was a Kingsglaive--continued to speak, sending glances their way before Irene got back on the phone, most likely wanting to talk to his father. The new guy nodded to her, and then started walking towards them. “Lady Lunafreya, we are putting in Action Zero,” the man said. 

 

Noctis gave him a sneer. “What the hell is that, and who the hell are you?”

 

“Nyx Ulric, your majesty,” Nyx answered with not a hint of respect in his voice other than what was required of him. “Action Zero is a secret. It pertains to the Oracle’s safety.” Nyx turned to Luna, noticing as she began hiding in Noctis’ side, looking for comfort. “We must move you now, Lady Lunafreya. If your brother is warning you then it means that the Chancellor’s arrival within a few hours is a part of a plan, and we want you squared away long before he gets here.”

 

“I’m going with her,” Noctis retaliated stubbornly. “From now on, wherever she goes, I go.” He took a step in front of her, feeling as she rested her forehead against his shoulder. He could feel the way her hand quivered in his grasp. 

 

* * *

 

She was too anxious. She was probably on the verge of a panic attack, and she hadn’t had one of those since the last time an MT tried to strangle her. 

 

“That's a negative, your highness. Only Irene and myself know of its location, and it's gonna stay that way. Now, please,” Nyx turned back to Luna. “Come with me, your majesty.”

 

Luna seemed shocked still, barely unable to even breathe as her mind raced. Too many things had begun to happen in such a short time. One second she was reconciling with Noctis, and the next she was being whisked away to an unknown location and Noctis couldn’t come. Just as she was about to hyperventilate, Noctis was pulling her in close, his entire body surrounding her, his smell filling her nose. 

 

She could hear Irene next to them, talking to Noctis and finally getting him to agree to help get her out of there. A flurry of movement happened around her as Nyx and Irene got things together that they figured she’d need, and Noctis stood right where he was, holding her to him, keeping her standing, keeping her sane. 

 

Once it appeared that she could breathe properly on her own, and everything was packed up and ready to go, Noctis walked her out of her apartment with Umbra in tow. The five of them quickly went down the elevator and exited through a secret door once they’d reached the garage floor, one not even Noctis knew about. By the time she was fully aware of her surroundings again with Umbra’s head resting in her lap, she saw Noctis standing in front of her open car door, his face looking unsure, as if he was trying to not let her know how worried he was. 

 

“Noctis,” she whined.

 

He gave her a sad smile, and took her cheek in his right hand. “Irene explained as much as she could to me, and you’ll be okay. You’ll be okay, Luna.”

 

“But--” Her throat tightened, and a tear fell down her cheek. “I don’t know when I’ll see you again.”

 

“We’ll see each other once the Chancellor is gone,” he replied softly. “I promise.”

 

He moved as if he was gonna shut the car door, and Luna figured Nyx was giving him a look of urgency while Irene gave them their goodbye. In that moment, she didn’t care if they both stared. Putting her hand on the door, not letting him shut it, she maneuvered Umbra’s head out of the way and she hopped out of the vehicle. Noctis didn’t have long to act surprised before her hands grabbed a hold of his head, and she was kissing him full on the mouth.

 

The kiss was short and demanding; nothing close to what Luna had hoped would be their first kiss, but she didn’t care. She didn’t know when she’d see him again.

 

As she leaned back, returning to her feet after having been on her tiptoes, she gave him a watery, sad smile. “Goodbye, dear Noctis.”

  
He looked dazed, but it was clear tears were pricking his eyes as well. “Goodbye, Luna.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 14 full pages. i'm so sorry it took a month. i had the WORST writer's block, and i rewrote the beginning of this chapter probably eight times, and attempted three different one shots in an effort to get rid of it. it wasn't until i began writer's block, aka the oneshot i recently uploaded into the collection, that i was finally able to get rid of it. this chapter took me a week. hopefully you like it! :) see you guys soon.


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